Dream Maker
by Kittioto
Summary: ..This story has been discontinued due to massive writer's block.. Piccolo finds a girl on the brink of death. His decision to assist her haunts him as time goes by and 'Shiga' is more time consuming than he'd thought.
1. A Slumbering Weakling

A/N: (You can skip this if you TRULY feel the need) Alright, so some of you loyal readers may be thinking something right now... and I can imagine what it is.   
'Did I MISS something here?'  
The answer is, inevitably, yes. The truth is, I hated the first chapter of Dream Maker. So I decided to replace it. The first chapter was... 1: Poorly written, 2: Formatted in a juvenile fashion, and 3: Poorly written. Did I mention poorly written...? It was poorly written. So, if you want to read the original chapter one... TOUGH DARTS!!! I loathed it! I hope the updated version will be more sufficient to my annoying and petty wanna-be author perfectionist ways. ^_^ Oh, and by the way, all chapters past this one I plan to keep original. If I do change them, I'll let you know!   
Oh, and as for time-line? I suppose right before the Androids... but then again, that would make Goku on another planet, so this may as well be Alternate Universe. So... Gohan is somewhere between the age of 11 and 14, which would make Piccolo about 20, 25. Also, THIS IS NOT YAOI. IT IS ALSO NOT LEMON, OR SLASH, OR ANYTHING PERVERTED. Fear not, I'm a pretty clean writer. That's all. (yay!)  
  
Disclaimer: I never have, and never WILL own Dragon Ball Z... however, I DO own the mysterious character who appears in this chapter, and I own all original characters past this point. I possess no rights whatsoever to DBZ, Piccolo, Gohan, Goku, ChiChi, blah blah blah... I also do not own the original idea of a disclaimer. And I am... grateful for that. I for one do not want to be blind-folded, gagged, and tied to a road-cone by angry fanfiction writers. Because, you know, some people REALLY hate disclaimers. However they CAN be a fun outlet to ramble!! Ever seen someone ramble on a disclaimer? It's pretty amusing, really. Man, I wish I had the nerve to do it myself. Hey, that reminds me! There was this one time where...  
  
()):^, ()):^, ()):^, ()):^, ()):^, ()):^, ()):^, ()):^, ()):^, ()):^, ()):^, ()):^, ());^. (Piccolo's winking at you!! Teehee!)  
  
Dream Maker  
Chapter 1: A Slumbering Weakling  
Finish Date: The original was made around April of 2001... however THIS chapter was finished September 17th, 2002. Large gap that is... I feel somehow inspired to throw confetti.   
Made By: Kittioto  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
  
I opened my eyes slowly, and swiftly came out of my meditating position. As I did so, I stretched out my arms and legs in the slightest. It had been a while since I'd bothered to open my eyes and get up.  
  
However. Today... today was different. Today I would see Gohan.  
  
It really had been a long time... since I'd seen Gohan, I mean. And it may not seem like a huge deal to most people, but the boy really did mean something to me. Almost as if I was the boy's real father. After all... I seemed to spend more time with him. Feh. Goku had spent so many years in the next dimension, it's a miracle he came back at ALL.  
  
But still... he had come back. And who was I to step between a boy and his father? I can't say I'd ever know what it felt like to have a father of my own, but I understand the relationship nonetheless. Gohan has meant more to me than I could ever feel to protect myself... and that, as I can imagine, is closer than MOST beings become. Closer than I would prefer. It was Gohan who took me away from a sort of enraged silence... a silence I could NEVER describe with words. A terrifying, blood-curdling silence that only my original self, "King" Piccolo, could pass on. And I was thankful to be taken away from that silence. But it also came with a horrible price.  
  
Need.  
  
Need? Yes. Need. Life seemed so much more simple when all that would satisfy me was to blow up a building. Now... what exactly, did I need? It sounds petty, insecure, and generally foolish... but I needed Gohan. Or, at least, someone LIKE Gohan. Someone to keep me away from my silence, and not remind me of it. Even though I could never return to my former way of life... it's almost tempting to imagine it. Just so I wouldn't have to suffer through connections... petty, human, mushy connections. HAH.  
  
And still, it had been so long since I'd seen Gohan. And so... SO very long that the thought of a returning silence haunted me.  
  
"Today will be different..." I muttered to myself, bitter anticipation dripping from my deep vocals.  
"Today I will NOT be reminded, my boy."  
  
Will a continuously bitter smirk, I leaped off from the dirt-tainted rock I'd been standing on, and headed on my way to the Son residence, where Gohan had FINALLY invited me to go to for a sparring session.  
  
  
-~-~-~-~-~  
  
(_____)  
  
  
  
*Wha... what's going on...?*  
  
My eyes rolled up inside my head.  
  
*Where am I?*  
  
A thousand levels of pain swept through my forehead, like a tidal wave of confusion, frustration, and numbing mortality.   
  
*... Something is wrong... where is mother? Where is father? Aren't they coming for me...?*  
  
Another tidal wave, this one in my eyes. My eyes stung. Why did my eyes sting...?   
  
*What did I do...? Why am I hurt...? ... AM I hurt? I think I'm hurt... ... why can't I move? I can't move!! No... don't panic... open your eyes, you fool!*  
  
Dark. Nothing but dark.  
  
*I said open your eyes! Open your MOUTH!! I don't care, just do SOMETHING!!!*  
  
I was mentally talking to myself. Was I going crazy? No. No I just... couldn't move. And where was I? Somewhere cold...  
  
*It's cold. Cold like... like... what is that word..? Winter. Cold like Winter. Is it Winter? Where is mother!??*  
  
Darkness... darker... turning a deep gray... can't... think... can't... speak... losing... no, losing... wait... black?   
Black...  
  
  
  
~-~-~-~-~  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
  
Gohan told me to meet him at noon. It was ALREADY 11:45... but, no worry, the boy would understand quite well if I was late. No need to rush and use all my energy on my way there, after all.  
  
I glanced at my surroundings in vague boredom, letting my astray thoughts conquer all doubt in my mind. Gohan had remembered, hadn't he...? Undoubtedly he did... but sometimes I wandered. Gohan wasn't as eager to see "Mr. Piccolo" as he was before, after all. It was understandable though. His father was back... he had things to do, books to study. And common sense knows, ChiChi was never of any help to extend ANY welcome I'd EVER received too see her "baby". The woman was far beyond my understanding... Gohan was obviously a "baby" no longer. But the woman failed to see it. I must admit, the boy seemed childish at times... but by no means an infant. I'd taught him far better than THAT. The very accusation that he required constant pampering and looking-after was not only ABSURD, but an insult to my teaching techniques. Being his mentor for so long, and what-not.   
  
No matter, though. As long as the boy was... ... happy. Happy living with THAT woman, I'd never understand, but happy nonetheless.   
  
I blinked, and stared at the plains below me. It was early Spring... the trees had blossomed, pink and puffy, flowers seemed to allow their aromas to waft through the air like energy focusing on more than one specific spot. Enough of the aroma to spread in every direction, and fill every air molecule.   
Some would consider the season... cheerful. To me, it was just another year of training, and an inevitable mild silence. The same silence that had been haunting me for so long, only in another form. Same feeling, same fear. Odd, isn't it? It's hard to describe. I couldn't even dream anymore... for a short period of time, I did, actually, dream. It was a new experience for me. An... odd, and unexpected experience, as well. These... "Dreams"... as humans called them, seemed so peaceful. Peaceful like Winter. I'd always fancied Winter... however IT even seemed to make my insides feel like stone now. There was something missing in my life. Something... absent. It wasn't the fighting, it wasn't anything like that... it was something much different, that I could never hope in a million years to understand. Shoot, it wasn't even the longing for my home planet anymore. It was far more complicated than that.  
  
Which is precisely why I couldn't figure out what it was.  
  
Like I said before... life seemed SO much more simple when the silence was not a burden. Mental contradictions seem to occupy every crevice of my mind, these days. Complications, misunderstandings... the only other time I can remember that the silence didn't haunt me, was when Gohan had been my avid pupil. When he was JUST tearing me out of this "silence" I feel. Hmm... perhaps "silence" isn't the right word for it. More of a... a filled hollowness. See? That doesn't even make sense. I would just have to live to cope with it, that was all... to accept it. There was no solution I could even BEGIN to see. Pointless, anyway. I should welcome silence, perhaps... it's always been a comfort. And yet... so... horrible, at the same time.   
'I'm getting nowhere with this...'  
I thought bitterly once more.  
'This is complete rubbish: just go to Gohan's, and enjoy yourself for a change!'  
  
With that in mind, I focused my trained eyes on the ground below me, watching it rush by quickly as my cape ruffled gracefully behind.  
  
As I was watching the surface, green fields and all, I noticed something - or rather some ONE - stuck in between the rocks and grasses, precariously close to a river.  
The form appeared to be sleeping, and I slowed just in the slightest of curiosity.   
  
Sleeping. Now... that, that there was a feat not EASILY accomplished by yours truly. Sleeping, dreaming - the works. It didn't come easily at ALL anymore. I suppose it's all rather useless when you can go without it... but the idea WAS appealing.   
Meditation could be considered restful for the physical form, but the mind grows tired when it doesn't have a chance to shut down every once in a while. Even then... I guess it doesn't really SHUT DOWN, but at least you're not aware of it. In meditation, you are. Ohhhh yes, you DEFINITELY are.  
  
Staring at the human as I drifted through the air casually by, I actually grew a little jealous. Ridiculous, I know... that I, being such a powerful being, perhaps not the strongest, but still powerful... would feel envious of a mere human.  
  
"I must be getting old..."  
  
I shook my head and continued on my way.  
  
  
  
  
  
It wasn't long until I reached the Son's residence. And, despite my demeanor of emotionless facades, I was THRILLED to see the expectant watermelon-sized toothy smile on Gohan's face. He was still just a boy after all, still waiting to see his "Mr. Piccolo" with an eager attitude. And, for a while there, the silence, or "filled hollowness", or WHATEVER you want to call it, actually DID disappear. It was all I could do to keep a straight face, and... to tell the truth, I couldn't. Not when Gohan hugged me.  
  
"Mr. Piccolo, you CAME!!" The boy buried his face into my leg, like I'd actually GO somewhere if he ever let go.  
"Of course I did, Gohan..." A smirk made its way upwards as I looked down at the boy, whom, in return, looked up at me.  
I tasseled his hair some-what jokingly like I often did when we were training on a regular basis. The small demi-Saiyan could BARELY keep in his excitement.  
  
"... After all, it's not every day I get to beat up a Saiyan."  
  
Gohan laughed whole-heartedly, and let go of my leg.   
Ah. Free at last.  
  
THAT'S when I saw ChiChi. OH boy. I could certainly tell she didn't like THAT comment.  
She was standing, arms folded, almost like I would, leaning against the front door frame, scowl plastered with a look to kill. I shouldn't have been surprised.  
  
"HEY there, Piccolo!"  
Much to my relief - oddly enough - Goku came to my rescue. Another watermelon smile that mirrored Gohan's swept across my former nemesis. It was still a profound mystery to me how ANYONE can possess a mouth that wide... then again, I suppose it should come to me as no surprise, taking in consideration of how they "put the food away", so to speak. Still a marvel of genetics, though.  
  
"Hello Goku. Feeling weak today? I should hope so, maybe I'll get in a punch this time." I smirked my usual festive "let's do this" smirk, and Goku returned with his own, festive, competitive, grin.  
"You may just do that today, friend! I'm STUFFED, ChiChi makes a wonderfully humongous lunch!!"  
  
"I HAVE to, Goku, sweetie... otherwise you complain about being hungry a half hour later!" ChiChi hollered from the doorway, cold and angry lethally dangerous glare temporarily turned away from me. That woman, I'm not going to lie... SCARES me. Shoot, she scares Goku, too.  
  
"Heheheh, guess you're right...! Aw, ChiChi, you know me too well!"  
  
I think I'm going to be sick.  
  
"Of course I do! Now go on and... play... ugh." ChiChi shook her head, taking time for one last "harm him and die" glare directed towards me, and then went inside. Probably to do the dishes... or... something.  
  
I looked back down at Gohan, and he laughed a little.  
  
"Let's TRAIN!"  
  
  
  
  
  
Hours passed by, and difficult, but enjoyable punches landed. I actually DID get a couple in on Goku... but then again, he'd agreed NOT to turn Super Saiyan, too. So that helped to a substantial degree. Gohan battling with us as well, of course. We sort of threw this large gut-punching contest... it may sound juvenile, but it DOES make you stronger, believe it or not. And competition often inspires fighters to do their utmost.   
  
The Son's laughed like maniacs the WHOLE time. What a surprise.  
  
Things continued well for quite a long time... until sunset. I hadn't HONESTLY thought that Goku could possibly hold out on his hunger that long, considering he had starting complaining somewhere around 3:00. Eventually, though, the mighty Saiyan let his stomach ultimately conquer, and was forced to beg ChiChi for dinner. I pity the man. For both reasons. The food problem... and the wife. And then again, the man WAS one of the strongest fighters ever known of... so I guess "pity" isn't quite befitting.  
  
Gohan smiled at me again, right before going inside. That lovable, childish, warm smile that makes you want to do anything for him. Give him a lollipop, give him anything he wanted... ... which in this case, was a hug.  
  
I acted like I didn't care, but it felt good. To be hugged by my first real friend. Gohan had taught me... everything. More than I could ever hope to teach him, and something that nobody else could have possibly even tempted me with. My first FRIEND.  
  
"Good night, Mr. Piccolo!!"   
Gohan let go, and he galloped off to the house, undoubtedly to fetch his enlarged dinner.  
  
When he was too far away to hear me, even with Saiyan ears, I whispered my reply.  
"Good night to you too, Gohan. I had a good time."  
  
I bowed my head slightly, knowing it might be a while until I would be able to spar with the boy again. It was not all his fault... ChiChi purposely made the boy study more than he could handle. I could never really understand that. But, I DID know that ChiChi wanted me, the "green monster", to stay away from her "baby".  
"It was fun while it lasted, kid."  
Mumbling ever so slightly, I materialized a new cape and turban around my head and shoulders. Tomorrow I would train through meditation once again.  
  
So I headed "home".  
  
  
  
  
  
I took the same basic route I'd taken to get to the Son's house back to my own cave and waterfall. Same trees, same grass, same slanted mountains, same human. Wait... human!?  
  
I stopped, dead in the air, and stared directly beneath me. Look and behold, I wasn't going insane. The human was STILL there, still slumbering away, looking weak and pathetic and slightly relaxed all at the same time. Not that the thought that the human looked relaxed in itself BOTHERED me... it BOTHERED me that it was still there, slightly propped up against the rocks, unmoved, un-phased, and undisturbed like it had HOURS before. NO human slept THAT soundly. Not even the king of sleep, Goku, could sleep that many hours in a row without so much as tossing onto their side.  
Something was WRONG.  
  
Somewhat hesitantly, I floated down to the human below. As I landed softly on the ground, I took an unimportant notice and mental note that the human was female, young, about the age of Gohan, and very, VERY... pale. Unnaturally pale.  
  
"Oh come on, don't be dead... you're not worth a wish with the Dragon Balls."  
  
I bent down on one knee next to the female, and slid her off of the rock her head had been slightly propped up on. With slight relief, I noticed her chest rise and fall.  
She was breathing. This was a good sign.  
  
However, the irregular rise and fall was not.   
"Alright, okay, so you're sick... snap out of it, kid."   
I slapped the human's face lightly, nothing to hurt her, and hoped for a reaction. None.  
Of course not.  
'Ah crud... don't tell me I have to bring you IN! Ah shoot...'   
It would be rude to take her to the Son's house at this hour, and I didn't CARE to confront ChiChi once again, so, with a grumble, I picked up the human in my arms, and arranged her head onto my shoulder. What a pain.  
  
"Well, kiddo... you'll PROBABLY be up by tomorrow. Just a gash in your head, a couple on your legs... your pathetically exposed stomach... eck, how weak! This is making me sick."  
  
I blinked, just now realizing that I was talking to an unconscious human female, and grumbled to myself quietly, lifting off from the ground in a careful manner. I didn't want to injure the weakling any more than she already was.  
To make matters worse, she would need new clothing... she was still "decent" in human terms, but she would definitely be cold tonight. With another grumble, I stealthily managed to take off my cape without disturbing the form too much, and quickly laid the soft material on top of her.  
  
*She'll be gone by morning, two days, tops... after all, it's just a little gash in her head. Nothing to worry about.*  
  
Little did I know what I'd REALLY gotten myself into.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
()):^,  
End A/N: Well now. That there took a few hours. I should just take whole days like this one and finish up a chapter all at once more often!! ^_^ Anyway, I hope you liked this... I'm okay with it. Heh, beats the original. Sooo... what more is there to say? You know the drill. REVIEW!! Thank yooouuu. ^_^ ~Peace sign~ Oh, and constructive criticism is always welcome... just not the other... kind. You know, the flamers out there. So if you don't like this, tell me WHY! I'm begging you, people! 


	2. New Awakening

  
  
  
  
:::Dream Maker:::   
Chapter 2: New Awakening  
  
  
  
  
I awoke with pain, my eyes still not opened. *What happened?* I wondered. I suddenly felt watched. I opened my eyes. I really did try to scream, but the noise wasn't coming out. SOMETHING was leaning over me. At the moment I really couldn't tell you what.   
It was filling my entire vision, and I freaked out. Practically all I could see was GREEN. The creature seemed startled, then looked at me coldly. "It's about time you woke up." The voice was deep and burly, I nearly passed out when I heard it. "It can speak??" I wondered aloud, still awakening from being knocked out. "Of course I can speak!" It said angrily at me. I tried to stay awake, to find out what in the world was going on, but I couldn't keep my eyes open. My eyes fluttered shut as I heard two last words: "Oh, brother."  
____  
  
I awoke with another shocking amount of pain, and groaned. My back was aching and my neck was way out of whack. I thought carefully, trying to remember what had happened last. *Oh, no! I forgot about that thing!* I thought snapping my eyes open and attempting to stand up. Bad idea, I was blasted with a huge dose of pain in my lower back. "AAAH!" *Shut up, you fool, that thing will hear you!* I told myself. I took a deep breath, trying to figure out my escape. *I'm not going to be much good there if I can't even move...* I stayed there staring at the blue sky ahead. What choice did I have? None. I sat there now more cautiously, I thought I had heard something. I didn't move half an inch, I just listened. But I couldn't hear anything. Just the wind.   
But then I heard it again. Like some kind of rustling of a sort. Like... cloth? I stared blankly again. *What is that?* I thought, now getting more worried than anything. I heard a thud next, I slowly turned my head to my left side. My mind went blank for a moment. What was going on? Why was there a basket of fruit by my side? I stared tempted at the basket of fruit, only now had I realized how hungry I was. "Why don't you just eat it?" I jumped then howled in pain from my movements. Aching, I scratched together my last piece of pride and demanded of the voice: "Who are you?" I didn't hear anything for a long time. Just the rustling of the wind. I refused to eat the fruit, even though I didn't voice it. Why should I sacrifice my last piece of dignity to this creature? I heard a sigh in the background. I thought it had left by now, it was so quiet.   
  
"You're quite the stubborn one, aren't you?" I chuckled evily, "You pretty much brought that among yourself." I heard the creature take a deep breath again. "Just eat the darn fruit. It's not like it's poisoned." I had to suppress my laughter. I needed to act cool at this game. "How am I supposed to know that?" The creature sounded insulted and even snorted.   
"I wouldn't bother poisoning it if I wanted to kill you... I could destroy you in about 3/4 of a second from here. "Prove it." I said smugly. I heard foot-steps my way and immediately regretted my words. What if he was serious? The foot-steps stopped and I turned my head to the right. I gasped in amazement and shock. The fact that this creature was green hardly mattered anymore. This thing was BUILT. I'd never seen such power in flesh! All I could focus on was how powerful those arms looked. This guy was serious about the whole 3/4 of a second thing. But didn't such power make him slow? How could he possibly kill me in 3/4 of a second if he was so... well, huge. I mean not only was there not a single shred of fat or weakness in his body, he was also as tall as a Red Wood... a very green Red Wood. His hands were almost as big as my head!   
  
I slowly focused onto his face, after a long stare at those powerful arms. His face was VERY defined. Sharp cheek-bones, a medium sized chin, also a little sharp looking, and a fairly long pointy nose. I then looked up at the top of his head, having to crane my neck for some ways because he was so tall. Noticing he had antenna, I quickly focused onto something else. The next thing I noticed was his wardrobe. A purple-ish blue colored tank-top that almost looked like one of those muscle shirts, and a light-blue cloth belt around his waste, along with pants that seemed fitted at his top, then gradually flared out towards the middle, and ended fitted well around his ankles, and they were also the purple-ish blue color.   
  
He had some very interesting looking shoes on, they almost seemed elf-ish, like he had picked them up at some ancient forest, and they were a tan color. The last of his wardrobe were these strange pieces of cloth that fit around his wrists... I hadn't a clue what those were for, and they were light-blue like his belt.   
I looked at his arms once again, they looked so powerful... but strange. Large pink spots were located where his main muscles should be, and they had reddish but very fine stripes running across them, along with similar looking ones but dark green running across the other parts of his arms. His arms were crossed, so I couldn't see much of his hands, but I could see a couple fingers, long and slender... even they looked powerful. His long fingernails looked strong, and almost manicured. Finally looking back up to his head, I realized he had no hair.   
Not a single hair on his entire body... not even eyebrows, just ridges. And last, but not least, I looked at his eyes.   
  
Cold, dead looking eyes that were pure black, they had no iris, just a pupil... but yet they somehow seemed to reflect wisdom. The wisdom of an old man, concealed within the body of lean-mean-muscle-machine. I couldn't even speak, not only was this guy seriously buff, but smart... or at least that's what I believe, looking at those dead eyes.   
  
"Enough proof?" The deep burly voice boomed again. I nodded my head slowly, still in awe. "Good, now eat." He said coldly un-crossing his arms and turned to walk away. "Wait..." I stuttered, barely gathering enough courage to speak up. "Who are you?" But he kept walking, as if he hadn't heard me, but I knew that he had to have, even though it hadn't really caught my eyes before, he also had long pointed goblin looking ears, and I couldn't imagine such huge ears to be that worthless. To my surprise, he actually stopped, but never turned around. "Who I am is none of your concern. It's no concern to any weak human." I felt like I had been slapped. Weak? WEAK? I thought long and hard about what the green man had said. Yes, I was weak compared to him, but did he really have to point that out? No. I eventually managed to sit up, just noticing that there was some sort of heavy white cloth draped around me. VERY heavy. But soft. I gulped down the fruit he had given me, reluctantly of course. It was better than I had expected... in fact, I was still half way expecting it to be poison. But it really was very good, even though I felt ashamed of eating something that someone went out of their way for. Why did I feel so ashamed of it? I couldn't figure it out. I tried to think of another circumstance where I had been ashamed to eat food, but nothing came up. In fact, nothing came up at all. *Wait a second...* I thought to myself, *Where am I from?* But yet again nothing was answered, just endless space through-out my mind. *How did I get here?* I tried to recall, but again, nothing but endless white. *...What's wrong with me?*  
  
  
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(Chapter TWO! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I'm having a lot of fun here... AND YOU!?? What will become of this girls' memory? Why can't she remember anything? And will Piccolo leave her there to die, on occation bringing her yummy fruit?? Being hyper can do weird things to people, did you know that?!? I did!! Anyway, remember to REEEEEVIEW me! I love it lots, so don't give up!!!! MUST have feedback! And don't forget to read a soon-to-come chapter THREE of "Dream Maker"!! Have a nice day!!!!! And YES, I do realize that my chapters are kinda short, but work with me people!)  



	3. Getting Aquainted-A New Name

  
  
:::Dream Maker:::  
  
Chapter 3: Getting Acquainted-A New Name  
  
  
(Piccolo's P.O.V.)  
  
  
I had walked away from the human girl no more then three hours ago when I heard the shrill scream echoing through my ears. With much frustration I snapped out of my meditation and hurried back to where I had left her. By this time all I could think about was how much MATENANCE this human required. And to make it worse... when I got there it was nothing but a false alarm. I glared at the girl, who was now sitting up just barely. "Don't you EVER do that again!" The girl cringed, probably out of fear... which actually made me feel pretty good, considering I was completely ticked off.   
"I JUST wanted to know if you'd come if I was in danger!"   
  
"Well you can FORGET about getting anymore of my help now! You're just like the little boy that called 'Wolf', you know that!?" I was upset. Very. That was evident.   
  
"FINE! Just leave me here to DIE than! See if I care! I bet it really was poison in that bowl!" "WHAT!??" I BARELY was able to restrain my anger for this girl. I knew I couldn't strike her, and it wasn't exactly my policy to do so. But I SURE felt like doing that at the moment. Calming down slightly, I spoke to her once again.   
  
"Okay... you want to die? That's FINE with me! I didn't have to pick up your barely alive body and drag it over to a safer place to begin with! You don't want my help, than I WON'T give it to you."  
  
I think I probably got across my point. I walked away once more and the girl stayed in silence, and I thought I even heard some sobbing... mumblings of something about 'remembering'. But I was way too angry to make it out, so I stormed out of there back to meditate.   
  
The meditation didn't last long.   
  
*She wants to DIE? This must be the most stubborn human in EXISTANCE!* I didn't know why she wouldn't except my help... what had I ever done to her? Soon the guilt began to build up on me, and before I knew it I was RIGHT back where I had started.   
  
"So, you want to die? Is that it?"   
The human girl once again said nothing in response.   
  
Figures.   
  
SO, without a word I scooped up the girl and lifted off towards the skies. THAT got a response from her. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I couldn't help but grin overly evilly as the girl shrieked and begged me to put her down. "I'm taking you to a friend's... lets see how you fair with THEM." Obviously my explanation didn't effect her much... the poor fool was too busy freaking out about me being able to fly in the first place.   
Eventually I landed: at the Son's residence. ChiChi PROBABLY wasn't going to be too thrilled about this. I put the girl down, and she calmed down some... I never had made any new cloths for her, so I let her keep my cape for the time-being. Impatiently, I knocked on the door. I would have to be as humble as possible to pull this stunt off...  
  
The door cracked open, and much to my gratitude, it was Gohan. "Mr. Piccolo!" The door swung open and nearly knocked me over. Okay, that wasn't so gratifying I suppose.  
  
"Mr. Piccolo, what are you doing here? Would you like to come inside? Or spar?"  
My word... Gohan sure was hyper. The tone in his voice alone was mind numbing.  
  
"No, Gohan... actually..." My eyes drifted to the girl I had saved "I would like you to meet someone." Gohan's eyes ACTUALLY glittered. "HI! I'm Gohan, what's your name??" She just stared blankly at him. I stared blankly at the girl. "Well...? Don't you have a name?" Gohan said again, anxious. The girl finally took her gaze off of Gohan and directed it to the ground. "I..." Gohan and I just stared her down. C'mon, EVERYONE has a name, right? I had to suppress from chewing her out about suspense. Come to think of it... she never had mentioned anything about herself before. Not that I CARED or anything... "I don't remember..."  
  
"WHAT?" My mouth literally swung open. What did she MEAN she didn't "remember"? Gohan's reaction was similar... he had one wide mouth. I didn't think a mouth could GET that wide. Goes to show you what you can learn from experience.  
  
"I don't remember... I don't remember anything really..." I could almost hear Gohan's eyes snapping. "Well, uh... that's... a pity..." What, he couldn't find anything better to say? "Well I'm off, take care of her if you want to, Gohan." I said coldly, trying to act un-interested. "What, you're leaving her HERE?" "Well YEAH, I am. Farewell, Gohan." "Piccolo! Wait!" I stopped for his sake... he was basically my only friend after all. "Why don't you name her?" The girl rose her mind-numbing gaze up to me now. "Because I don't care, no doubt." I sneered. I could SEE the pain inflicted by my remark on the girl... almost even regretted it. Almost. "C'mon Piccolo... I don't know her, give us something to call her at least. As a favor?" As a favor... "Okay, FINE." I said reluctantly, then smirked. "How about Shiga?" "Piccolo!" I rolled my eyes. "Well, it sounds fitting to me. 'Uncaring' works pretty good." "Piccolo, I'm sure she wouldn't want to be called such a thing..." After that, the girl seemed to stand up straighter. "No, it's fine. I kind of like it." Now THAT surprised me. She was probably still just being difficult... "Okay, fine, she has a name. Good for her, I'm leaving." "Take care Piccolo!" "Yeah, you too kid, and don't let her get on your nerves too much..." With that, I took off, cape-less.  
  
________  
  
  
  
( BWAHA! BWAHAHAHA!!! You likey?? Please, oh, PLEASE review!! This one took me a while to write... after all, I've got like a million other things to do. And yeah, it's short again... and I'll probably soon be getting out chapter 4. Sorry it takes me SO long to get out the chapters... please be patient!! And thanks for reading, I really appreciate it. ^_^ With gratitude, ~Kittioto~ )  



	4. No Dreams For A Dreamer

  
  
  
:::Dream Maker:::   
Chapter 4: No Dreams For A Dreamer  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
Piccolo had named me... an insulting name, but I didn't really mind. I didn't really mind anything at the moment, actually. "So..." Gohan said speaking up, breaking the awkward silence. "Would you like to come inside?" I nodded, mostly for the sake of being polite, and Gohan showed me in. Only now had a realized how dark it was getting outside, the light inside of Gohan's house made me want to shield my eyes.  
  
"Gohan, honey, who was that at the door? It wasn't that Piccolo again was it?" I heard a light voice holler from what looked to be the kitchen. Well... at least I could remember some basic things. "Yeah, mom... it was Mr. Piccolo. He brought a friend!" Gohan said in response, and not long afterwards I heard a gasp from the light voice.   
  
"A FRIEND? I've GOTTA see this..." The voice said, and was then revealed wiping her hands on a cloth towel... coming into the living room to take a look at me I suppose. She was very pretty in my opinion, and I could see the resemblance in Gohan. It was obvious that this was his mother.   
  
"Well hello there young lady! I'm Gohan's mother, ChiChi." She said, and reached out her hand to shake mine, and I shook it politely.  
"Might you have a name...?" She asked in a kind comforting tone.  
  
"Well... sort of." I said now, speaking up. "Piccolo has named me Shiga." ChiChi looked at me curiously, cocking her head. "Shiga...? That's an interesting name... what do you mean Piccolo named you?" I explained to ChiChi that I couldn't seem to remember anything, and she continually attempted to comfort me by patting me on the shoulder, saying how sorry she was. I eventually met her husband as well... a fighter named Goku. I was amazed that all these people seemed so STRONG. Yes, Goku was strong... and friendly, I discovered. But not too bright. I caught him saying some... odd... things. But then again, who was I to talk of odd? I couldn't even remember my real name.  
  
"So!" Goku said to me, getting an all-too goofily looking smile on his face. "How do you like our friend Piccolo here?"  
  
I swear I almost turned completely pink. The question in general wasn't embarrassing... it was the way he said it, and how he was grinning. And it's not like I really CARED for Piccolo, so his question almost sounded absurd to me.  
  
"Um, well, he saved my life. And I'm grateful for that. Although he isn't the most social guy on earth..." I heard a chuckle from Gohan, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of me. I was sitting on the couch. "Yeah... but once you get to know him, he's really a swell friend. He's saved my life so many times, I can't count them all." That interested me. "You mean he's not just a big grouch?" "NO WAY! He's really very nice, it just takes a while for anyone to get close to him." Gohan seemed to put a lot of emphasis on what he was talking about... he must have meant every word.  
  
Later ChiChi agreed to let me stay in Gohan's room, but only for one night. She said she'd try to get a hold of some other friends and see if I could stay with them... she also added that she had way too many mouths to feed. Though she was kind enough to loan me some of her old sleeping cloths... they were a little big, but I wasn't about to complain. I thanked her for her generosity, and found my way to Gohan's room. "Good night, Shiga!" Gohan hollered from the couch before I shut the door. My word... his room looked like a library. Made me wonder what he could possibly do with all those books. While I lay in the bed, I thought about the many possibilities of why I couldn't remember. Just IMAGINE what it would be like to forget every vital part of your life... your parents, your first day of school, your best friend, your siblings perhaps, if you have any. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night.  
  
  
  
  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
  
I flew back to the usual area I go at night to do my deep meditation. I didn't normally get any real sleep, after all. I was glad to get rid of the human girl now called 'Shiga'. She was REALLY cutting into my meditation time. In fact... she still was. I couldn't help but try to relate my own life to hers, and think about her disability to remember. I personally wouldn't have minded that much to forget my past... it wasn't all pink clouds and marsh mallows after all. I had seen a lot of things I would have rather not... including my entire child-hood, if you could call it a child-hood at all. But Humans seem to cherish memories more than I... so I actually felt a little pity for her. Which you can imagine, is quite rare for me. So I thought a lot about Shiga that night. Out of pure pity of course... nothing more. I would refuse to believe I was somehow becoming attached to this human, like I had with Gohan. That was one thought I didn't allow.  
  
  
  
  
  
I opened my eyes slowly, getting out of my meditation for about the billionth time that morning alone. Why couldn't I simply forget about Shiga? Usually I'd be able to brush any Human off like dust... but for some reason her memory loss kept popping up. I'd fall into a deep meditation, and all of a sudden a picture of her would emerge, sometimes crying... This didn't please me, I could tell you that. I had myself to take care of, I didn't want some weak Human invading my thoughts. Grinding my teeth, I got back up. If I couldn't forget her, I'd find a way to. I powered up slightly and lifted off, once again towards the Son residence.  
  
  
  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
  
I heard a loud beeping filling my ears and out of pure instinct, slammed my hand where a bed-table should have been. No bed-table. Air. I opened my eyes groggily and sat up. Figures... the bed-table was on the right, not left, side. Good naturedly, I SLAMMED my hand on the 'cancel' button. My eyes still only half open, I stared at the numbers on the digital clock. 5:00... did they ALWAYS get up this early? Not seeing any real reason to get up yet, I examined my wounds, now that I was able to examine them at all. They seemed to be healing up pretty quickly... before I went to bed ChiChi gave me a light snack while she patched them up... which seemed to help a great deal. Although my body was still wracked with pain... and whenever I moved my ankle I had to restrain from screaming. But at least I knew I could trust these people... that's what I was most worried about before. Though Piccolo seemed to be a smart one, something told me he's had some rough times in his life. Which wasn't exactly comforting to think that I was with no one but a giant pickle who had a bad past.  
  
After a while, I decided I better get up. Couldn't seem to get back to sleep, and I hadn't dreamed at all last night. Nothing that I could really dwell on but my own self pity, and I would prefer not to do that. When I reached the living room I spotted Gohan still slumbering away on the living room couch... thought I spotted some drool there. Not long after my observation ChiChi came in and woke him up, saying that breakfast was almost ready. Yeah, I could smell it... Bacon and Eggs? Pancakes perhaps? She headed back to the kitchen, and I followed her in.   
  
"Need any help?" I asked, trying to be good company.  
  
"Actually, yes... could you do me a favor and get 20 more eggs out of the refrigerator?"  
  
I swear my eyes must have bulged. 20!? What FOR? But I nodded anyway and started counting.  
  
1, 2, 3... "How come you need so many eggs, anyway?" 4, 5, 6, 7...  
  
"Oh, the eggs are just the first portion of the meal."  
  
SHOOT! I lost count. "What do you MEAN the FIRST portion!?" Oh well, back to the drawing board. 1, 2, 3, 4...  
  
ChiChi chuckled, "My boys eat a lot... all Saiyans do, actually." The conversation lasted a while, and it took me a while to count the eggs... kept losing track. Even dropped one at a point of the talk about Piccolo's past. I had purposefully asked her about that. Hey, I was entitled rights to know about my savior, right? ChiChi finally finished whipping up breakfast... she seemed to move at super-human speed. Maybe she was afraid that it wouldn't get done in time and her 'boys' would go crazy or something... I kind of got the impression she put up with a lot. Although when she saw Gohan and Goku wolfing down the food, she looked pretty pleased with herself. I myself was amazed. Intrigued even... they ate the portions of about 20 growing teenagers - like myself - each. Simply amazing. Though watching them... I kind of lost my appetite. Then I heard a grunt from the door-way.  
  
"Disgusting, isn't it?" Piccolo... what was he doing here? Man, couldn't he have knocked...? I decided not to answer his question, the look on my face said all. And for once, Piccolo actually laughed... which caused Gohan to look up in shock.   
  
"Hiya Mr. Piccolo! Want some grub?" Or at least that's what it sounded like Gohan said... just imagine his mouth mostly full - and fully visible - with buttery pancakes.  
  
"NO." Was Piccolo's only response. I slowly and cautiously walked over to him, basically tripping over my sprained ankle. "Um, Piccolo, sir?" Piccolo just stared down at me with dead eyes... it made me feel uneasy, like I shouldn't have been there. And though he didn't say anything, I continued to stare back, just as un-easily eerie. "I just wanted to thank you for saving me. Although I acted like a snit and if anything just annoyed you, I'm thankful that you saved my life." I did not enjoy saying that. I kept a straight face, and didn't twitch... but Piccolo did. A little.   
  
"Whatever."   
  
WHAT!? 'Whatever' !? Here I had thanked him and he didn't CARE!? "So I'm just sorry I was an inconvenience, that's all." I said through hopeful, but gritted teeth.  
  
"Yeah, whatever."  
  
Okay, NOW he had TICKED ME OFF. I even said I was SORRY for goodness sakes!! What was with this 'whatever' business!? So with these angry thoughts in my head, I did something I knew he would hate.  
  
  
  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
I flew to the Son residence and went inside, not even bothering to knock... they'd just invite me in anyway. And came in just in time for Gohan and Goku to start eating. Disgusting. In fact, it was so gruesome I voiced my opinion in the form of a question. 'Shiga' seemed to be the only one to notice me, and her faced turned white for some odd reason or another. Humans are so odd... though I couldn't help but laugh at her expression. Gohan had finally noticed me and asked if I cared for some 'grub' as he put it. I responded with a firm 'NO'. The usual answer. Then Shiga came over. What did she think she was doing, just COMING UP to me?   
  
"Um, Piccolo, sir?" I stared at her coldly, purposefully trying to make her nervous... but she just stared back, equally poker-faced.   
  
"I just wanted to thank you for saving me. Although I acted like a snit and if anything just annoyed you, I'm thankful that you saved my life." What WAS she talking about? She was... THANKING me? Well to be entirely truthful, that actually made me feel pretty good. I had made her at least get past that STUPID attitude of 'stuck-up clumsy teenager who fell in the river and won't except help'. But I kept up my masquerade, mostly to annoy her.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Her face turned purple, then gritted through her teeth: "So I'm just sorry I was an inconvenience, that's all."  
  
"Yeah, whatever."  
  
THAT was my downfall.  



	5. The Ultimate Punishment

  
  
  
  
:::Dream Maker:::  
  
Chapter 5: The Ultimate Punishment   
  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
Like I said, Piccolo ticked me off. Now he would pay the ultimate price...  
  
I literally THREW myself onto Piccolo and began to rub his chest. You should have seen his face... but it wasn't nearly as hilarious as the one after that.  
  
"Piccy-chan, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU??" Piccolo struggled to get me off, but I had wrapped my arms around him basically digging my nails into his skin and had the biggest puppy-dog eyes I could conceivably get. The most PERFECT grip imaginable. "GET OFF OF ME!"  
  
"But Piccy-chan, I thought you LOVED me!! You told me in the cave!"  
  
"WHAT IN THE CRAZY WORLD ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!???"   
  
Ooooh, that was rich. You should have seen it... and CHICHI'S face!! Man, it was to die for! Goku actually stopped eating and observed. Gohan as well. "Mr. Piccolo, is that true?"   
  
"NO YOU MORON!"  
  
"Piccy-chan why are you being so MEAN!?" I said as innocently as I could. "You said you loved me! And what about that kiss? Didn't it mean ANYTHING to you?" With that I started to bawl fake tears, and nuzzled my head into his... incredibly shaped... chest. Hey... I was a better actor than I'd originally thought. Though I hafta admit, I was having WAY too much fun. I moved my hands up to his head and stroaked the side of his face gently, getting the whole 'innocent victim' act down. "Why, Piccolo?"  
  
Piccolo's eyes grew so wide I thought they'd get too big for his head.   
  
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" He bellowed. Wow... he can get pretty loud. Unfortunately my fun was ruined, I let my guard down and he managed to escape my death grip.  
  
"Stay away from me! I don't know what you're talking about!!" He said frantically, probably thinking I was nuts. Then again... maybe I was. I'm a bug compaired to Piccolo, he could kill me in '3/4 of a second' after all.  
  
"But Piccy-chan! Don't you LOVE ME!???"  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? I never 'kissed' ANYTHING!! And stop calling me that ABSURD NAME!!"  
  
"Piccy-chan..."  
  
"STOP!!" He clutched his head and ran like it was the end of the world. He actually broke the door...  
As for myself, I turned around to see faces white as ghosts. I just couldn't hold up the act any longer... it was just TOO funny. I burst into laughter as everyone just STARED at me. I'd have to say the whitest face was Gohan's. His jaw was touching the floor. IT WAS HILARIOUS!!! And Piccolo just soooo FREAKED out! Not so cool and collected any more, now were we? I'd finally exacted my revenge. Piccolo's ultimate price to pay: complete and total humiliation. I was rolling on the floor with laughter by the time anyone said anything. Which was Goku.  
  
"I'm gunna finish breakfast."  
  
Gohan's face was still white, he was just... STANDING there. "Is all that true?" He squeeked.  
  
"NO!" I burst into another fit of laughter. "None of it was TRUE! I was just trying to get Piccolo back for not excepting my apology silly!"  
  
"No one has... EVER... done that to Piccolo before. NO ONE has made him run and scream like that." Gohan said in astonishment. "Maybe you should apologize."   
  
APOLOGIZE? "Hey, I did that before and he 'whatever'ed me. No WAY am I gunna apologize to him for THAT. That was rich." I said with an evil grin.  
  
"Just the same..." Gohan started up again. "He is my friend, and he really is a good guy." I could see the wheels in his head turning. "Maybe he didn't except your apology 'cause he really enjoyed the time he spent with you."  
  
I snorted. "Ye-ah, riiiight... he's crazy about spending time with me. That's why he's so cold around me. I'm sure he wants to be best friends." I said darkly.  
  
"Well maybe..." Gohan began, but stopped himself. Wonder what he was going to say...? "Nah."  
  
"What?" I said curiously.  
  
"Nevermind, it's not any of my business anyway." He refused. I shrugged his comment off... probably nothing.  
  
-------------------------  
  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
  
I'd closed my eyes for half a second when all of a sudden she THREW herself on ME. No matter how hard I'd tried I couldn't scrape her off of me, like she was glued to me or something.   
  
"Piccy-chan, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU??" She whined.  
  
"GET OFF OF ME!" I bellowed in total panic and anger.  
  
"But Piccy-chan, I thought you LOVED me! You told me in the cave!" I couldn't move. WHAT had she called me!? And she was looking up at me with these... these EYES that were watery and almost crystal clear.  
  
"WHAT IN THE CRAZY WOLD ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!???" She was freaking me out! And and... RUBBING MY CHEST. TOUCHING me! And what frightened me most was the fact that I enjoyed the warmth of her hand. She just had this way of... touching me... I felt drugged almost.  
  
"Mr. Piccolo, is that true?" Gohan accused.  
  
"NO YOU MORON!" TO THINK I had trained this boy! Where was his brain? This was INSANE!  
  
"Piccy-chan, why are you being so MEAN!?" WHAT WAS SHE TALKING ABOUT!? What was she DOING to me!!!??? "You said you LOVED me! And what about that kiss? Didn't that mean ANYTHING to you?" She had this COMPLETELY innocent look on her face! "Why, Piccolo?" She must have been CRAZY! Then she did something even CRAZIER... she reached up and stroked the side of my face, then she buried her head into my chest! NO ONE touches me! Once again, I tried to separate myself from her, but she had this ENCREDIBLE grip... although she wasn't holding me that tight. Was this some kind of mind trick?   
  
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I yelled, getting fed up, and I FINALLY got out of her grip. WHAT WAS THIS MIX OF EMOTIONS I WAS FEELING!? "Stay away from me! I don't know what you're talking about!!"  
  
"But Piccy-chan, don't you LOVE ME!???" She demanded of me.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? I never 'kissed' ANYTHING!! And stop calling me that ABSURD NAME!!"  
  
"Piccy-chan..."   
  
That was simply all I could take. "STOP!!" I clutched my head in near pain and ran straight THROUGH the door.  
  
------------------  
  
  
  
I'd thought a little that saving that girl must have been the biggest mistake I'd ever make. Going to see if she was doing better was worse. WHAT WAS HER PROBLEM MAN!? Was she mentally ill!? And she was... RUBBING me!! My mind was exploding in confusion, anger and somehow in the midst of it, comfort. Oh crap, I was going insane. She TOUCHED me! How DARE she... and my face to make it worse! I won't let even Gohan touch my FACE! And what was with that...that... LOOK in her eyes. Possessing. I was HORRIFIED by the time I got back to my spot near the mountains. And not just of her. Of myself.  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Bwahahahahaa!!! I had way, way, WAY too much fun making this. ^_^ WONDER WHY??? So, what do you think will become of all this? Do you think they'll fall in wuv? Twue wuv ^_^ Okay, I'm in a weird mood, so sue me... no, wait, don't. I don't own Dragon Ball Z so there :p YOU GOT NOTHIN' AGAINST ME! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Aaaanyway, chapter six may take longer to make than the last three... considering I made a chapter each day for three days. Hey, that's not bad! Especially considering usually it takes me like a month to get out a decent chapter. Anyway, please review me and read whatever I have! I LOVE YOU MAN!!! ~Maniacal Kitt)   



	6. 'Gafah'

(Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN DBZ. Need I say more?)  
  
  
  
:::Dream Maker:::  
Chapter 6: 'Gafah'  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
  
After the big shock of how I had acted, they took me to Capsule Corporation... I guess that's where the 'friends' ChiChi was talking about lived. I made it VERY clear to Goku and his family that it was all an act, I would NOT let this whole Piccolo humiliation thing spread too far. I mean come on... you should only completely and totally humiliate a guy so much. I had SOME heart, right? Anyway, Goku had a car and he drove me there with Gohan following along... maybe just to see his friends. Or maybe he was actually there to say good-bye to me. Or maybe just to escape the wrath of ChChi and her books. I don't know, don't care I guess. But he did come. ChiChi stayed at home, mentioning something about 'dishes'. Although I have to say... Goku's driving was HORRIBLE! I couldn't remember barely anything, but I know I must have been able to drive better than him. I thought we were gunna die for sure. But, somehow anyway, we lived to see Capsule Corp.  
  
Goku opened my door for me, nearly ripping it off, and let me out. MAN, these people can make you nervous... if it wasn't an incredibly tall green man who saves you from bleeding to death, or ChiChi screaming at Gohan to do homework, some buff guy who drives like a mad-man and a grandma at the same time will almost kill you by opening the door. My word. Anyway, I lived through Goku's being politeness too, and I was brave enough to thank him.  
  
"HERE WE ARE! 'Capsule Corp.'!" Goku exclaimed, pointing out the obvious, and took a big whiff of air as if he were out in the wilderness.  
  
"Hmm... nice." I cautiously sniffed the air with him, and Goku broke out into giggles... 'why' I'll never know.  
  
Gohan ran on ahead and rang CC's door bell, and we all awaited patiently. It wasn't long at all until some blue-haired woman came and opened the door. Blue... heh, what an interesting color for hair. Made me kinda feel un-unique, with my own dark-brown hair.  
  
"HEY Goku, Gohan! Come on in!" The blue-haired lady greeted them... I guess she hadn't noticed me yet. Though that didn't last long.  
"Oh HEY, who's your friend?" She took a curious and all-too energetic look at me.  
  
"Hiya Bulma! This is the girl Piccolo saved that my mom told you about; Shiga. Shiga, this is Bulma... don't worry she'll be really nice, she always is." Gohan answered with a grin.  
  
I took a couple of steps forward and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Bulma."  
  
"Well nice to meet you too, Shiga! It's an honor." Man alive... she had one SHINY smile. "Here, come on in! You're welcome to stay as long as you like, we have plenty of rooms and food to spare." She added, still grinning.  
  
Bulma was so far the only person here I saw that wasn't incredibly buff besides ChiChi. There's some strange people around here. Blue hair, beat the books, Mr. Greene, and like father like son. Was I the ONLY normal person around here? No wait, I wasn't normal either... guess there's just no such thing as normal in these parts. (Thus: my motto!)   
  
Anyway, Bulma showed me inside with Gohan and Goku trailing behind. I decided to speak up, Gohan was doing a lot of talking and I kind of felt the obligation to budge in. "Wow, this is some nice place you've got here..." Which was totally true... that place was HUGE. You could fit about five elephants in there.  
  
"Yeah, you like it? I've lived here for a while, I even built my own lab down-stairs." Bulma said acknowledging my existence.  
  
"Wowie, a whole lab...? What would you need that for?" I asked in pure curiosity. Bulma chuckled in response. "You just so-happened to meet your first genius since your memory loss, Shiga! I have my own lab so I can conduct experiences and such." Bulma said and continued her little tour. After taking me through the living room and kitchen, she took me to little Trunks' room. After seeing his lavender hair, I automatically guessed it was Bulma's child.  
  
"What a cutie!" I said for conversational reasons. Conversational ONLY of course... sure, he was cute, but I wasn't really into little kids much. And considering I couldn't remember anything, I couldn't seem to figure out what I would truly enjoy doing. What did I normally do when I still had my memory...? Maybe I'd never remember... but hopefully someday I would. I was going crazy not knowing anything. I mean sure, I remembered what a house was, I remembered what a phone was, what a bedroom was, what a flower was... you name it, but I couldn't for the life of me remember who II/I was. And that's one thing that EVERYONE should be entitled to have. I nearly broke out into tears just looking around the house... I mean at least they had a home. And contained within the walls of this home were no doubt millions of memories. And here I was in the middle of it... with nothing. Nothing to look back on, nothing to really look forward to. Just me.  
  
Gohan, most likely seeing my watery eyes rested a hand on my shoulder. "You okay, Shiga?"  
I quickly brushed it off and composed myself. "I'm fine, thanks." Gohan still looked worried, but let it lay. I probably looked like an idiot... a poor stuck-up teen who couldn't remember anything. 'Poor, poor, Shiga... no where to run, no where to hide. Just plain un-caring towards everything. Poor, poor, IShiga/I.' Yeah, well, I was trying to stay away from that reputation. So far I'd discovered I didn't enjoy pity much.  
  
  
  
  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
  
"CURSE THAT SHIGA!!" I exploded while ATTEMPTING to meditate. Why'd I even have to save her sorry little butt to begin with? All she had caused me was trouble so far, and an inability to meditate. Every time I thought about her THROWING herself onto me, my blood would boil. NO ONE touches me. EVER. In particular Iher/I. It would most definitely not happen again. I'd make sure of that. What right did she have to do this to me? Doesn't she have any morals? Than again, I guess it's not my position to talk about morals... I think I'd probably killed enough in my life-time. And my father's life-time. No, I'd never forget the memories he gave me when he spit me out... that was something bound to stick with me forever. But you know what? I don't REALLY care.   
  
For a while their I'd thought I'd gone soft or something, because I'd made such good friends with Gohan and other things... like ooooh... deciding to be with the 'good-guys' instead of the bad. You know, not trying to conquer earth anymore and things like that. Just little things. But I'd gone past that... I was simply making the right choices. Why should that be called 'soft'? I couldn't see a real reason. And I couldn't care less if Gohan thought I was. Gohan was wise for his age... but I had experience as my alley. I'd been through more than enough to know myself. Yes... I had my softer moments, but they were mere moments. Nothing more.  
  
But as I was saying, I couldn't concentrate... that cursed Shiga wouldn't seem to let me. Of course she wasn't there, but darn it, memories of her just kept washing back, as if she was TRYING to make me go soft, without her even being around me. I finally got up, sick and tired of my futile attempts to concentrate. Why bother wasting your time on that? So instead I split myself into two, battling myself for a while.   
  
It didn't really seem to cut it though... I lost pitifully to my clone, and of course my own clone mocked me for it. With a large sigh I reformed and sat down to meditate again, though I knew I wouldn't get anywhere with it. And night was falling fast... not that I'd get any sleep, but all the noisier critters come out by then, and that would make it harder to meditate.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
  
Night had finally fallen, Gohan and Goku went home to ChiChi, and I'd already met the entire Briefs' family. Including Vegeta. MAN, what a grump... he was worse than Piccolo. If VEGETA had found me by a stream bleeding to death, I'm sure he wouldn't have bothered to spare my life. He was really buff too... although Bulma's parents seemed fairly normal. Well, aside from the fact that her mother had an inconceivably high-pitched voice, and wouldn't appear to have eyes... and her father was normal aside from the undeniable fact that he was a genius who talked to this funky little black cat that clung to his shoulder. I wonder if he's a kleptomaniac...? Oh well, I'm not one to complain anyway. They'd given me a little room and plenty of cloths. I'd picked out a bright-green slightly tight fitting T-shirt and blue Jeans. It wasn't that bad I suppose, they did have good food, and, unlike ChiChi's family, I had a chance to eat SOME of it before getting my limbs nearly ripped off. I stayed in C.C. room number 16, a nice room... beige colored walls and a large window with an okay view... but they lived mostly in town, so there wasn't really much to see. Which for some reason made me kind of un-easy... wonder if I'd lived in the country before...? One of many thoughts.   
  
The room had a comfy bed too, but that as well I couldn't seem to really get used to. What, did I used to live in the WILDERNESS? Or was I just accustomed to a different kind of bed? Makes you wonder. I was tired of wondering. I wanted to KNOW. I cried myself to sleep that night... and as far as I could tell, I didn't have any dreams. Or maybe I did... maybe that entire night was a dream. That's kind of what it felt like. Like none of it was real. What would my parents do when they found out I was gone? Maybe I'd been unconscious by that stream for longer than I'd imagined? Maybe they'd looked for me, and finally given up hope? Maybe they didn't give a worried thought for me... maybe I was all I'd have, and ever would. Mayb---  
  
  
I woke up early that morning. Oh goody, another day for un-caring Shiga... No one was up yet, so I quietly snuck out the window and dropped to the ground. It was a pretty far drop, so once again I wondered where I'd gotten the strength to do that. I mean sure, it wasn't THAT big, but I didn't have any trouble with it. Even with my wounds and hurt ankle. Despite my curious thoughts, I continued on my way and ventured out into the forest. It was quite the little walk, but I was tired of sticking in town. I needed real AIR. I walked for a while taking in the un-polluted air and eventually flopped down on the pine needles, my eyes drooping as time flew by.  
  
I had fallen asleep... again. Good grief, how much sleep could I possibly need? Well, I woke up and it was either right after noon, or right before. Couldn't quite tell. It was nice outside though, or at least to most people. Kind of warm for my liking. Or what I assumed was my liking. So anyway, I wandered through the slightly-too-warm forest a while... taking the fresh air in. And yeah, I guess there was a lot to take in. Memory loss is one thing, but the out-doors are another. Just looking around the forest gave me some sort of recognition in the back of my mind. Who knew? Maybe I was some sort of abandoned forest junky...  
  
Next I wandered off towards the lake. It was a sight to see as well... the light was shining down on it just perfectly, peeping through the branches and leaves of the large Pine Trees above. Like some sort of glittering crystal, clear as ice, with a blue shade to it... was I a Poet? I grinned at the thought. After my little thought, I took off the Sneakers Bulma had given me. Fortunately enough, her feet were about the same size as mine. Though they did feel a LITTLE small... but like I said before, I'm not one to complain. Anyway, I took off my shoes and limped over to the water, due to my sprained ankle, and dangled them in there. Felt good, too. I was finally beginning to feel less uptight.  
  
"Feeling better?" I heard a deep voice half murmur. Wait... I knew that voice.  
  
"I suppose you should, after doing that to me. You seemed to enjoy yourself enough." Piccolo said in a half-sarcastic tone.  
  
"Oh, 'Gafah'." Was my only response. I knew he must have been mad at me. Why wouldn't he?  
  
"'Gafah'?" He mocked, raising one of his big green eye-ridges as he appeared out of nowhere.  
  
"Yeah..." I continued to dangle my feet in the lake. Why wouldn't he just leave me alone? Some of my stress was actually starting to go away... I didn't really want to lose that.  
  
"You know, not that I really CARE or anything, or you would for that matter, but I am COMPLETELY and TOTALLY ticked off at you..." He paused in thought. "And you know I could crush you like a bug at any second..."  
  
I was beginning to get really annoyed again.  
  
"Okay, I'm SORRY, alright? Is that what you want to hear?" I said, and stood up to come as close to being the same height as him as possible. Piccolo crossed his arms, as if to intimidate me. "But ya know, you REALLY brought it upon yourself!"  
  
"Oh, some apology that was..."  
  
MAN, this guy was ticking me off! First he ruins my after-noon, and then he doesn't accept my apology... AGAIN.  
  
"Hey now, look here you old, molding, wrinkled up giant pickle, I didn't WANT to meet you, kay? And I didn't ASK for you to stalk me all over the place practically begging for an apology that you don't give a crap about, no matter HOW much it means to me! So you could just BUD OUT!"  
  
Piccolo just stared at me mildly for a couple seconds. Then...  
  
"Gafah."  
  
Okay, that was crossing the line... why was he doing this? Why was he acting as if he had no heart? Maybe I'd give him a heart...  
  
"'Oh, LOOK!'" I said and pointed to nowhere. "'It's that monster who kidnaps teen-age girls and doesn't treat them like anything but DIRT!'" My eyes were starting to well up. "'That ugly green creature who thinks he can hurt anybody's feelings and crush their confidence even though they don't have any to begin with!'" I was officially crying now, and my brain was spinning... it was obvious that my heart alone was doing the talking. "'That THING who has no heart and, and, won't let me keep a clear state of mind, and...'" I finally broke down into an all-out bawl, gasping for a little air. Why was this so hard for me? This time I wasn't just acting... "And just..." I murmured. Piccolo took a step back, as if I'd slapped him, even un-crossing his arms. "That guy who doesn't care about how much I try..."  
  
"I'm... sorry."  
  
WHA??? Did he just say what I thought he said? I looked up at him, the water in my eyes blurring some of my vision.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
I think Piccolo actually looked a little embarrassed for a second, then he turned back to his usual scowl.  
  
"You heard me." He said, his masquerade back up. "Not that I really care or anything."  
  
I had to suppress an overly joyful smile. Did Piccolo actually have a beating heart? Then, I really did end up smirking.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
I could have sworn his face turned pale. Yeah, this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I could feel it. Piccolo was now in the process of meeting his match... me. For every insult or cold statement he could conceivably throw at me, I'd counter the same with double force. A beautiful friendship indeed.  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Hmm, did you enjoy? Sorry this took a little longer to put up, I was... ~GASP~ ::: RESTRICTED :::. Plus I had a home-schooling test course thingy where I no-doubt failed miserably on the math section... DARN THAT MATH!! Grrrrr... that and Social Studies. Oh well, 'nough about that... how'd you like this chapter? Please review me, and give me some advice if you can think of any. ^_^ I can take criticism!! Well, I get deeply angered whenever I do get flames... but so far I've only had one official flame through-out my stories, so I guess it's not that bad. Anyway, please review! AND I'll probably be adding a new character soon... I just love to do that. So keep an eye out, and give me your comments! ~Kittioto)   



	7. Hello Stranger!

  
:::Dream Maker:::  
Chapter 7: Hello Stranger!  
  
  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
Why did I EVEN bother to speak with Shiga again? Had I lost my mind? What was the point? She had made the perfect come-back on me... in one word. I mean for cryin' out loud, she was better at arguing than Vegeta! But she did use different techniques... very different. This uh, wasn't necessarily a good thing. Although it was nice to talk to someone who doesn't constantly call me 'Green Bean' or 'Baka' all the time... but still, all she wanted to do was argue it seemed. But mostly with me. I'd never seen her argue with Gohan or his family... nor the Briefs'. WHY ME? You'd think she'd want to avoid me. But then again... each time that she'd really argued with me, I'd come to her. Greeeaat.   
  
I was still just staring down at her of course. And of course she had this cocky little smirk on her face, feeling witty, no doubt. You know... I hadn't really noticed it before, but she really was attractive as far as Human's go. Not that I was 'interested' or anything, I mean good grief, I'm an A-type anyway, not some weak human... but I bet Gohan or perhaps an older Trunks would have ACTUALLY been attracted to this spunky girl. A scary thought... but yes, she was 'pretty' by human standards. Or for what I believe to be human standards. Don't know how accurate I could possibly be... humans can be a bit confusing. That's one thing I've learned on Earth. NOTHING is simple.  
  
She had dark brown hair, with the tiniest bit or red added to it that reached just barely past her shoulders... some how her bangs managed to be longer than her hair, but still be known as bangs. Actually, they looked more like blades... swooping down from her forehead, and down to her chest more, past the base of her neck. Almost like Goku's, but not springing up in the air. The rest of her hair seemed fairly normal, overlapping her shoulders just barely in a soft wave.   
  
She wasn't tall as far as humans go, but not really short either. Of course she was unmistakably short compared to me, but that's me. She was in pretty good shape for her age and origin, too... I mean come on, she's no Gohan, but for an average teen human female, she was in good shape. Minus her cuts and bruises. Her skin wasn't light like some humans, but it wasn't really dark either. Probably closer to dark than light though, if you had to measure it. She had a slightly pointed nose, but actually quite soft looking, unlike mine. The rest of her face almost seemed to be the ideal for humans. Medium forehead, medium chin, nice width and length, and her eyebrows weren't too bushy or thin. I guess her eyes were what caught my attention most though... well, considering she was staring a hole through me, yeah. But they were green. Maybe an 'olive' green shade? That's probably the closest description of her eyes I could get. They weren't particularly large or anything, just green. And her long eye-lashes... but otherwise they were normal.  
  
"What are you looking at?" I finally spoke up. Shiga just continued to look at me, as if in deep thought. I couldn't take much more of that... just STARING. And usually that's not too bad, except that it was Shiga. I was used to being stared down by Vegeta. But Shiga... I don't know, I just couldn't take it.  
  
"What, are you deaf?" I stared back at her, but it just made me more un-easy. "Fine, you're mute, I don't care." I lifted off, feeling like a total fool. How had she out-matched me? She had beaten me in every aspect... in every possible way since I've known her, she's found some sort of way to win every challenge. It didn't make sense... she was nothing but a mere human, a WEAK human, how did she control me so much? What had she found out about me? Something that perhaps I'm not aware of yet... and I'm no fool, I don't ignore my own actions entirely. Only an imbecile would be that proud and ignorant. Though I may appear to be by weak humans, the human race is almost entirely consisted of fools.   
  
So who's the fool? The fool, or the one who judges others to be fools? And see, that's the irony of it all... a true fool would not realize he's blind to what goes on before him. I shook the thoughts and landed in my current spot near the mountains. And somehow, I was able to meditate.  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
  
  
I went back 'home' after Piccolo flew off. Man... I HAVE to ask him how he can fly. Or maybe it was just a green man thing. But it would be sooo cool if I could fly... it looked like a whole lot of fun. Anyway, I went back 'home' or otherwise known as Capsule Corp. feeling pretty darn good about myself. I didn't bother knocking on the door of C.C., I just waltzed right in and to 'my' room. It really was nice of Bulma and the Briefs' to let me live there... and I didn't really have any other place to go. I took out a book and began to read, dismissing any thoughts into some sci-fi novel Bulma let me borrow.  
  
  
It wasn't long before I heard a knock on the door, and looked up from the book. Who would possibly be at C.C. now? It wasn't PICCOLO again, was it? No... couldn't be, he rarely knocks. The Son family perhaps? Maybe it was Gohan. My question was soon answered.  
  
"Shiga, you have a young man here who wants to speak with you!" I heard Bulma holler from below.   
  
HUH? A young man, eh? That felt too much like a date... I put down the book and headed down the stairs. "Who is it?" I asked Bulma when I reached the end of the stair-case.  
  
"He says he's a friend." Bulma shrugged and walked away from the door.  
  
"Hello...?" I poked my head around the door to come face-to-face with a slightly tall and handsome young man. "Do I know you?" Something about him looked way too familiar...  
  
The kid just looked at me for a couple seconds, then snapped out of it. "N... no, I'm afraid you don't. But I am a friend." He said, his voice was a little deep... and somewhat familiar.   
  
Okaaaay... he's a friend, but I don't know him... that makes a WHOLE lot of sense. The boy, most likely seeing my confusion, spoke up.  
  
"May I come in?" He said, and I nodded to him.  
  
The boy hesitated a couple more seconds, and then began to speak again.  
  
"My sister... is very sick, and I do not know where to find the ingredient of which can heal her. I came here to ask that you help me find that ingredient."  
  
O...kay. What an interesting way to start off a conversation... and I just couldn't get past that he looked so VERY familiar.  
  
"Are you sure I don't know you? What's your name...?" I asked getting more curious now.  
  
"I... can't tell you my name. For reasons I am not allowed to state, M... iss Shiga." Why in all the world was he stuttering so much? He seemed to be avoiding eye contact.  
  
"Well, I'm afraid I can't really help you." I frowned. "Besides, I can't remember a thing, you've got the wrong person... please leave." The boy looked almost shocked, like he had expected me to help him out.  
  
"Miss Shiga, please excuse my rudeness... but this is very important, I love my sister very much, and if I don't find this flower to heal her, she will certainly die. My... mother died a few years from this ti... a few years back, from the same disease as what my sister has now. The cure was not found when my mother died, and it is a VERY rare flower, of which I cannot find on my own... I beg of you, please, help me, or at least give me some advice." He said that so truthfully... I could actually see his eyes getting watery, shining with a glazed-over look.  
  
"A... flower? As a cure?" I asked him. I... remembered something. There was some sort of area in the mountain tops with rare flowers. Could that be what he was talking about...? And how had I remembered that so suddenly...  
  
He nodded, "Yes, a flower... it has a yellow and orange center, with midnight-blue petals... and a red stem."  
  
I thought hard... a red stem... that felt familiar, just like the boy spoke and looked familiar... I nodded to him and rested my head in my hands, beginning to rub my temples. "I think I can help you..." I was beginning to think that this boy could help me remember some of my past. The recognition of him... it was powerful. "But I expect SOMETHING in return." I added, not wanting him to get carried away.  
  
"Oh, THANK you Shiga!" He exclaimed.   
  
  
This boy... so familiar... he had dark red hair, that formed in clumps like icicles hanging down from the top of his head. I couldn't quite place what his hair alone reminded me of... or actually, it kind of looked like mine. Though I only had two icicle spikes facing downward, he had about five, and of course, his hair was much shorter than mine... and my hair wasn't red. Well, not entirely anyway. Mine was mostly dark brown, with only a few strips of red in it.   
  
His eyes were green, and had no iris... they were very large eyes compared to mine, but the same olive-green color. Perhaps this was my brother or cousin...? Or maybe a distant relative?  
  
"Am I... somehow related to you...?" I quizzed. "You said you won't say your name, but are you my brother or something?"   
  
The boy looked taken aback sort of. "You... COULD say I'm related to you, but, that is all I can tell you... I'm very sorry, but it is vital that I don't tell you much." The guy looked pretty darn uncomfortable standing there.  
  
"Here... take a seat." Although this guy was pretty annoying about the secrecy, I was actually beginning to feel kind of sorry for him. Why couldn't he tell me anything? He took a seat, still looking way too uncomfortable. Was he shy around girls or something? And he still wouldn't make eye contact with me...  
  
To say more about his appearance, he had a very strong build. Even THAT looked familiar... but then again, I've been hanging around basically no one but buff guys. Though he didn't really have Goku or Vegeta's build. It was some-what more slender and tall looking, but still stable in a very clear way. Something about it... it was just so recognizable. I wish I could place it.  
  
He had slightly pointed ears, too. Like an elf's. Or maybe a miniature Piccolo's... nothing like I'd really seen before. Or that I could remember seeing. He had a pointed nose as well, and a slightly less pointed chin, but still a little slender looking. The rest of his face was basically normal... slender, but medium sized. His shirt was a dark possibly navy or midnight blue, long sleeved, and reached as far as a light-blue cloth belt around his waste. His pants were about the same shade as his hair... dark and almost bloody colored red. Or maybe more a ruby shade, and they were the usual gi pant style for fighters like Goku, Gohan and Piccolo.  
  
Actually... this guy was kinda cute.  
  
"Hey, would you like a glass of water or something?" I offered.  
  
The boy shook his head. "No thank you."  
  
"Refreshments...?"  
  
"Thanks, I'm fine."  
  
I narrowed my eye-brows. "How about a nick-name?"  
  
That arose some interest. The boy stared at the ground, in deep thought most likely.  
  
"You may call me Kasan."  
  
Aaaawe, I see... this guy's into the metaphorical stuff. Like my name. "Caring for one's health", a fitting title.  
  
"Very well 'Kasan'... what do you expect me to do?"  
  
The boy just blinked and stared at me.  
  
"I... was hoping you'd decide that." 'Kasan' said, looking a bit confused. My WORD he looked uncomfortable.  
  
"Alright..." I said, my humor beginning to perk up. "How 'bout something to eat!"  
  
I could have sworn the boy smiled. But even that was uncomfortable and awkward looking. Then he spoke up again.  
  
"You remind me of someone." He said, still half-smiling.  
  
"Hmm? Who?"  
  
Kasan shook his head in thought. "You're very much like my sister."  
  
  
  
(Oh heeeeeeeeey! Did you enjoy? As usual, please, please, pleeeeeease!!! ~Takes a deep breath~ REVIEW! I know this little area here seems to have sort of a slow start... mostly because I went into deeper explanation of what the characters look like, but I promise... it'll get real interesting soon. That is, if this isn't already interesting enough... heheh. And if you're curious, 'Yes' I will start going into a P.O.V. with 'Kasan'. It's gunna explain a lot, so stay tuned!!)  
  



	8. Getting Started

(First off, my wonderful, courageous, outstanding, faithful readers... I'd like to apologize for this huge slab of lard that was stuck in my head, nick-named: "Writers Block". I thank you immensely for reading "Dream Maker" and I REALLY thank you for reviewing me so much. Everyone around should realize I love reviews... even though I don't usually send out emails of thanks. So I thank you continually for being so sweet to me. ^_^ I'd also like to say for the record: I don't own DBZ! There it is, there's that STUPID disclaimer. Can't live with it, can't keep money without it... well actually, no one would probably sue me, considering this is a alternate universe story, and hardly anyone knows me, or my real name for that matter... but hey, let's shoot for the record anyway.)   
  
  
  
  
::: Dream Maker :::  
Chapter 8: Getting Started   
  
  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
  
It was the next day... Kasan had stayed the night here at C.C. and slept in room number 18 I think. Something tells me he didn't get a whole lot of sleep though. He kept asking me how I was feeling... questions like: "When do you think you'll be able to walk reasonably well again?" and; "Is your ankle feeling any better today...?" It was driving me a little nuts, but I coped. It should have been more obvious to him that I couldn't hike up to some mountain... even though my sprained ankle was healing reasonably fast, it would still be at least two more days until I'd be able to walk well enough. I guess in the mean time I'd have to put up with Kasan... though to tell the truth, the majority of the time I spent with him was alright. Awkward, but alright.  
  
I flopped down on one of the living room couches and snatched up the remote control. I wonder what my favorite channel was... in fact, I wonder if this is the first time I've ever watched TV at all. I searched the buttons on the little black controller and noticed the red print on one of them, entitled 'on'. Well, no DUH, I pushed it and began to channel surf. That's when Kasan came in from out-doors... he seemed to use a lot of his time outside.  
  
"Hey, what're watching?" He asked, obviously for conversational reasons.  
  
I shrugged and continued to flip through the channels. "Don't know yet. Can't remember a darned thing, this stuff doesn't look familiar." I said with a frown.  
  
Kasan just nodded and sat on the furthest chair from me. Wow, sure was a FRIENDLY fellow.  
  
"So..." I spoke up, hoping to strike some conversation. "Do you know anyone around here?" Hey, he could at LEAST tell me that, right?  
  
Kasan said nothing for a little while, then realized he HAD to speak up I guess. "Sort of..." A man of many words.  
  
"Ahaaaaaaaaaa..." I responded with a confused look. Although I guess Kasan hadn't noticed that... he wouldn't look me in the eyes. "Who do you know?"  
  
"... People. A few people. They don't know me very well, though." Ahaaaaaaaaaa... Okay, this guy makes a whole lot of sense. I decided he probably didn't want to talk about it, and let it lay.  
  
"Well, maybe it's for the better you don't know a whole lot of people... they're kinda, eh... different around here." I stared at Kasan carefully, to see if he'd even twitch. He didn't. Or at least not at first. I thought I spotted a crooked grin slide across his face for a second or two.  
  
"Yeah, they are kind of 'different'..." AHA! A reaction! It's a MIRACLE!!  
  
"I'll say... although you haven't met the most 'different' one yet." I grinned. "Ever met a green man?"  
  
Kasan's face turned completely white, as he continued not to look at me. Yeesh, was it something I said?  
  
"Y... you... you mean...." He stuttered like a fool, and the white face wasn't helping his image.  
  
"I mean what...?" Come on, spit it out.   
  
Kasan seemed to regain composure and his face resumed it's natural color... mostly. "Um, no, no... I've never met a green man." Something tells me he was holding something back though.  
  
"Ah... well, you haven't met the oddest yet, than." I raised a brow at his amusing gestures. Kasan muttered something or other under his breath, but I couldn't make it out.  
  
"Well...!" Kasan jumped up from the chair. "I'm going outside I think." My word... AGAIN?  
  
"Yo, can I come with? Doesn't look like there's anything on the tube." If I was going to go searching for some DUMB flower with this guy, I at least want to get to know him better.  
  
"Oh... um, yeah, sure... suit yourself." He said with a faded smile creasing his lips. When he did smile, it was a nice one. One thing I couldn't get over about Kasan, was his shyness. I'd seen that shy, slightly grumpy but some-how polite attitude before. I'm not sure where exactly... and it could just be my imagination, but EVERYTHING about Kasan looked and sounded familiar. Well... all but his name. That was foreign to me. But oh well... onto different things.  
  
I followed Kasan outside and looked around. You'd think I'd never seen the place before, even though I was just there yesterday. I eventually got bored with sniffing the various species of flowers though, and sat down, pondering useless things, like if I even HAD a family. I'd love to go to a comfortable familiar place... but it looks like I'll be stuck at C.C. for a while yet.  
  
"... Don't you ever get bored of just sitting there?" I mused at Kasan. All he was doing was... SITTING there. Well, actually, it looked kind of like he was sleeping. His eyes were closed with his arms and legs crossed.  
  
"No, not really."  
  
"Well what are you doing?"  
  
"... Thinking."  
  
"Oh." Suddenly hey, what a thought!  
  
"Hey, Piccolo does that thing too, you know that?" I stared interested at his posture.  
  
Kasan went into numerous different styles of twitches. "Um, uuuuuh... I've never met a green man..."  
  
"... I didn't say Piccolo was green."  
  
"AH! Yeah, I UM... know!! Heheh... but uuuuum... BULMA told me about him!" O... kay. Sure was a nervous fellow.  
  
"Kasan?"  
  
"Uh huuh?"  
  
"... Why are you so nervous around me?"  
  
Kasan said nothing for a couple seconds.   
............... Okay maybe more than just a couple seconds.  
  
"I don't know." Alrighty, that was REALLY worth waiting for. I just rolled my eyes.  
  
  
  
  
  
(Kasan)  
  
  
  
  
About a week had passed since I'd arrived and met Shiga. I felt that it was really quite an honor to meet her... which was probably the reason why I'd been making a complete and total fool of myself for the last seven days. I had been thinking a lot the last several days as well. I'm from the future. Kind of a different thought. Son from the future. Almost seemed like I was repeating the history of Trunks, in his dimension. Father had told me about him... but not nearly as much as he had told me about my mother.   
  
... Father, in my time, had told me that him and Mom didn't used to always get along.  
No big surprise there.  
  
"RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!" The alarm clock screeched as I tapped it lightly to shut it off. I don't know why I even bother to set the thing... I always get up in the morning at 6:30... whether I want to or not. I guess you could just call it a habit. This meant I'd had nothing to do but think in bed for an hour already. I didn't think it very polite to get up before everyone else, so I had just laid there until the appointed time: 7:30. But I DID have a lot to think about, now didn't I? And to add to that, today would be the day Shiga and I would begin our little trek.   
  
I got up and made the bed, then ventured out into the hallway, down the stairs, and into the kitchen, where, as usual, I saw Bulma's mother slaving over the oven.   
  
"Good morning, Mrs. Briefs." I said, with an attempted warm smile.  
  
"Ooooh, good morning Kasan! We're having pancakes this morning!" She said cheerfully and giggled. Really was a nice lady.  
  
"Oh, wonderful, pancakes sound delicious." I said as nicely as I could, and Mrs. Briefs just smiled in return.  
  
Shiga came out with her spiked hair looking unusually spiky this morning. I'd learned - the hard way - that Shiga wasn't a morning person. Dad never told me about that little fact.  
  
"Good morning, Shiga." I greeted good naturedly.   
  
"Yeah, uh huh, sure." Shiga grunted in reply.  
  
"Today's the day..." I led on about the flower.  
  
"Sure is."  
  
"Your ankle's better..."  
  
"Sure is."  
  
"Yup."  
I think there's a small lack of communication between the two of us. But our points always came across, so I'm not going to complain.   
  
  
  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
  
  
I finished my breakfast after the small amount of conversation I'd managed to get in with Kasan. Today was "The" day.  
"The" day, as in: "THE DAY". The day I leave Capsule Corp. to look for some dumb flower.  
I went upstairs and dug through the drawers of one of Bulma's old wardrobe graveyards. She can go through clothes faster than a vacuum cleaner. Though I don't know why she bothers to get new ones... they all look the same.  
  
I shoved some bright green shirt Bulma gave me into the backpack I was taking along. Man, was EVERYTHING this woman owned bright, or pink!? And I was NOT wearing pink. Over my dead body, people. I also shoved some other stuff in there, like a handy pocket-knife and matches. I was going on this little trip prepared... but the sad thing is, I had no idea where I was about to go. The only thing leading me was an image stuck in my head of a tall forest covered cliff of some sort... so how can you be prepared for something you don't even TRULY remember? I guess I can't really trust my own head. I also piled some canned food in there, along with other clothes I'd be needing... I had absolutely no idea how Kasan would fair on this, and he was DETERMINED to go with me. I hadn't even HOPED to talk him out of that. Hey, why waste breath, right? Plus... he's cute. Can you blame me?  
  
I zipped up the black backpack and stood up, going back downstairs to meet up with Kasan.  
  
"Are you ready to go?" He asked a bit anxiously as he saw me stumble down the stairs.  
  
"Yeah, yeah... I'm ready, how 'bout you?" I for one, was not as enthusiastic about this as Kasan.   
  
"Yes, I'm willing to leave at ANY time." Enthusiastic alright...   
  
I marched out the door with NO IDEA WHATSOEVER where I was going. I'd probably be better off just spinning a twig on the ground and letting it choose which direction to start at. I sighed and looked to my left, then to my right. Then up, for some dumb reason or another. Kasan tapped my shoulder...  
  
"Um, Miss Shiga, shouldn't we get going?" He asked impatiently.  
  
"... Yeah, I suppose we SHOULD, now SHOULDN'T we? Got any idea where to start?"  
  
Kasan just stared at me blandly, almost as if he'd expected me to say that. "If I may suggest it... I think we should go left."  
  
"Left? Why left? There's not even any mountains over there..." I narrowed a brow in amusement.  
  
"Call it a hunch..." He sort of glanced away then shimmied to the left. "Shall we go, now?" Kasan... he was acting a little different today... I couldn't quite place it, but something was definitely different about him.  
  
"Yeah, sure... you want to lead?"  
  
Kasan didn't respond and just started to march, and I, in relief that I didn't have to do anything drastic yet, followed him.  
  
  
  
  
Five hours later, I was panting like a dog. Good grief, what was I even DOING out here!? It must be my supreme niceness that I even agreed to go on this stupid search... either that, or complete and total stupidity.  
  
"Hey... could we... stop for... a sec...?" I panted.  
  
Kasan rolled his eyes. "AGAIN?"  
  
I nodded, too tired to argue, and flopped down on the ground. Landed on a rock, but I didn't care.  
  
Kasan was carrying my backpack by this time... ever since the three hour mark where I had begun to get a little tuckered out. Kasan made me look REALLY out of shape, too... but I WAS still recovering from my sprained ankle after all. I thought I was doing pretty good... considering the circumstances. Kasan seemed to be expecting more out of me though, like I was some super-human. In which case, I think I am stronger than most humans... but not THAT strong.  
  
Kasan set down the backpack and sat calmly down on a log. He was no longer hyped up, thank goodness... but where in all the world did he get so strong? He wasn't even tired, and here I was about to pass-out. Made me sick just thinking about it.   
  
"How long do you need?" Kasan asked, sounding slightly annoyed, but polite anyway. That was one good thing about him... he wasn't totally rude like some people, and DEFINITELY not a whiner.   
  
I held up one finger, not even wanting to talk. "Just give me a sec..."  
  
Kasan nodded and closed his eyes, crossing his arms as he did so. What was he doing? Sleeping? Man, I thought I was tired...  
  
I finally just gave in and laid down on the ground flat on my back, landing on another rock as I did so. Yeah, terrific. Not only were my ankles going to swell to twice their size, and my feet have blisters the size of dollar bills, but my back would look like Swiss cheese. I groaned and closed my eyes, then opened them a couple minutes later.  
  
"Yo, what food is available in that bag?" I leaned up slightly.  
  
Kasan opened one eye to look at me. "I don't know... you packed."   
  
"Well pass it over than, I'm starved."  
  
Kasan effortlessly picked up the bag and tossed it in my direction.  
  
"Thanks..." I gratified him and began to dig through the backpack. Hmm... dried peaches. As far as I could remember, not a favorite... but good enough. I opened the pocket-sized zip-lock bag and shoved a piece or two in my mouth. Wow... hadn't realized how hungry I was before. I finished and re-zipped the bag, shoving it back into the backpack and threw it at Kasan, who without even flinching or opening his eyes, caught it with one hand. How does he DO that?  
  
"Alright, lets go..." I somewhat muttered.  
  
Kasan got up and pulled the backpack back on. "Good, I'll lead again." With that, he started off as I trudged behind him.  
  
  
  
  
(Okay... I know, kind of like the last chapter, this, in my opinion anyway, is a little boring. But it's all about character development, people! Though don't worry, I have some events planned for the next chapter. For this is just the beginning!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! HA-! Anyway, this isn't a TOTALLY spur of the moment story or anything, I'm actually PLANNING. ^_^ And, DUH, I would appreciate it if you review... as usual. Even if it is a bad one, 'cause I need to know YOUR opinion on what areas I should improve on... or you can just say I did a MAGNIFICENT job, and I'll be thrilled. ^_^ Thankies!! - Kittioto)  
  
  



	9. That's No Rock

(A/N: Yes!! I have more to write!!!! Yes, I know, it's been a while... but some... stuff... has been happening. Forgive me? Um um... I would like to thank Molly(Chestnut Wind), Cami(Melodic Fae -- not in reviews box, but she still tells me what she thinks), Mikey(Demon Teddy -- also not in DM's review box, but still says they're cool ^-^), Malenka Saramahki, SayianPrincess_Neo and the rest who have told me their opinions for Dream Maker. ^_^ ~Extra huge HUG~ As for Mr. Disclaimer, I do not, have not, and will not own Dragon Ball Z, or any form of DBZ. I do however own Kasan and Shiga. Not that this fact truly matters. ~Sweat~ *I HATE you disclaimer, GET LOST!! You're depressing me...* Okay, now you're free to read. Oh wait no, I have to voice this first: "OH MY WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD!!! I PASSED THE 25 REVIEWS MARK FOR THIS NOW!! Like, YAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" AHEM, okay, I'm done.)  
  
  
  
Chapter Nine:  
::: That's No Rock :::  
  
(Finish date: ..... Somewhere between Jan. and Feb.)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
  
"Tree. Tree. Tree. BIG tree. Tree. Tree. Rock. OOOH! A Squerrel! Tree."  
  
Kasan let out a LOUD sigh. I think I was getting on his nerves. Oh well.  
  
"Tree. Rock. Branch. Tree."  
  
"SHIGA!" Kasan yelled and spun back to look at me.  
  
"Yes?" I asked humbly.  
  
"Good grief, Shiga, ENOUGH with the trees!"  
  
I cocked my head to one side and blinked. I guess I WAS getting on his nerves.   
"Okay."  
  
There was a long pause as Kasan stared at me with some-what disbelieving eyes, apparently thinking that it was too good to be true for me to shut up.  
  
I took another look around me. "........... Rock. Bush. Rock. Rock."  
Kasan just growled and turned around to resume his lead.  
  
I had been hiking for way too long. I don't think the dried peaches did much to give me fuel, either.  
"Where are we going, anyway? I mean, you don't even know if this is the right DIRECTION, do you?"  
Kasan said nothing in return.  
"Kasan?"  
No answer again. I guess I deserved to be ignored though, I'd been bugging the life outta him for the last hour.  
  
"... We're going to a hidden grove. I know there's something there that will lead us the right way." Oh, so he hadn't gone mute after all.  
  
"What kind of grove? Sounds pretty mysterious."  
  
"... Actually, yeah, it's a mystery. I don't know what it's like yet... I've never been there. But I uh... knew someone who had. Just trust me."   
  
'Just trust me'... hmm, I didn't like the sound of that. Famous last words in numerous situations and movies, as well as Soap Opera's.  
  
  
  
"... I wonder where Piccolo is." I thought aloud. I had always found Piccolo quite amusing... not that I'd known him very long, but I felt like maybe I could read him or something. I could have sworn Kasan jerked when I said it. He really worries me sometimes... I mean, whenever I say 'Piccolo' he jumps about five feet! YEESH! He doesn't jump when I say 'Bulma' or 'Gohan' or 'Vegeta'. Kind of made me think that he knows him. Or, possibly, 'knew' him. But obviously enough, he wouldn't fess up to it. I'd come to discover that it seems I'm not exactly fond of secrets being kept from me. I'd find out what he was hiding if it's the last thing I did.  
  
  
  
------  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
  
No meditation. Not for the last three days had I gotten ANY meditation. Why? Who knows. Just when I had thought I could actually concentrait on my training, something would block my thoughts... and the worst thing was, I couldn't figure out what it was that was blocking the channel. Maybe it was because I felt a new energy... one that had just popped up out of nowhere. But whenever I'd felt the decent amount of energy, it would dissappear moments later. I couldn't even hope to track it... I was sure it wasn't Goku's or Vegeta's, it wasn't powerful enough... but at the same time, I'm sure, whatever it was, was blocking it's true strength. But how could that be possible? Only Goku and the others know how to pull that stunt... or at least, the only people who know how that are still ALIVE. I guess you could call it a vicious cycle... I wasn't going to get any answers just by guessing. Even more strange about this power, was that it felt familiar. Like it was a part of something else... something, or someone, I'd known before. Like I said, a vicious cycle.  
  
However, one thing was for sure.  
  
I was, positively, absolutely, over my DEAD BODY: NOT going back to Capsule Corporation to see how Shiga was doing. That, indeed, was a death wish in motion. I don't care who she is, or how weak she may be, but she's got some stinking deadly fighting words. And her grip was IMPOSSIBLE. Who can compete against THAT? Vegeta, maybe, could stand up against her. I don't think he'd last long though. Not without hurting his pride, anyway. She specializes in that. He has too much pride anyway... the arrogant little... well, lets just say he has his own view of things.  
  
I grumbled and stood up. Shiga disturbed me. Probably always would. More than Vegeta could ever get on my nerves, and on a completely different level. She disturbed me in a way PAST anger. More in the zone of... frustration. Yet she seemed to get along with pretty much all BUT me. I think if she'd gone all-out world-war-two with Vegeta, I would've known about it... but it seemed like she was only attacking me. Why was that? What had I ever done to push her into torturing ME?  
"... It doesn't matter."  
  
I formed a small ki blast in one palm and stared into it for a moment. I always found it quite amazing that one being could create something so small, but powerful, out of nothing but thier own will and power.  
I consentraited, numbing all my thoughts and channeling them towards making the ki sphere grow, and slowly it grew larger and more powerful in my palm. When I was done with it, there was only one thing left to do...  
  
Get rid of it.  
  
I lifted the sphere above my head in a swift steady movement. It was almost complete....  
  
  
  
  
" - THERE IT IS AGAIN!!" I lost consentraition on my large ki ball and it disappeared into thin air.  
"That power... where on EARTH is it coming from?" The power, the one that wasn't Goku's OR Vegeta's was there again... somewhere... east? Maybe north? No way of telling for sure... but it was definately there. I reached out with my senses, trying to pinpoint it... it was.... was...  
lost.  
  
"Curse it!" There had to be a way to track it! There HAD to be! Why would someone be hiding thier power level anyway? Either they didn't know how to control it right... or they were purposely hiding it from someone. Even if I couldn't grow it back, I would have bet my right arm then that they were hiding it... and from us, more specifically.  
  
--------  
  
  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
"Kaaaaaaaaasan!!" I whined. Feet should NOT be that sore. "Are we ALMOST there?"  
  
"... Um...." Kasan looked left, and then right when he reached a large boulder. A... VERY large boulder. Like... the Godzilla of boulders.  
  
"Kasan...?"  
  
Kasan turned around to look at me, with a look of both confusion, frustration, and sorrow. "I don't know."  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"This boulder!! It's NOT supposed to be here! We must've taken a wrong turn or something..."  
  
"Oh GREAT!!" I smacked my forehead in frustration. "So we're lost!?"  
  
"It would appear to be so... I just could have SWORN we were going the right way..."  
  
"Wonderful. Just WONDERFUL." I was mad. I hiked alllll this way for WHAT? TO GET LOST!?  
I huffed angrily and leaned up against the gargantuous boulder, severely ticked.  
Kasan put a hand to his chin and paced back and forth, glancing at different possibilites.  
  
"... How could this have happened...? All the markings pointed in this direction..." He mumbled to himself and pulled out a compass. Kasan brushed back a rebellious handfull of red hair and turned around with the compass in circles. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE!?"   
  
Wow, I'd never actually seen him MAD before. It was kinna funny.  
In fact, I decided to lighten myself up and chuckled.  
  
"Oh, and what's so funny? This flower is IMPORTANT, Shiga!" He turned and gave me a half-glare, like he WANTED to be angry with me but just couldn't do it.  
  
"What's funny? I hate to say it Kasan, buddy, but you're HILARIOUS."  
  
"I AM NOT!! Wait... was that a compliment?"  
  
"Depends on how you take it."  
  
"... Oh. Um... thanks?" Kasan put on his now familiar clueless look, raising one eyebrow at me. Then, both his eyes grew wide and his mouth slowly crept open in what seemed to be a silent gasp. Wait a second... that wasn't part of his trade-mark look! What was he doing?  
  
Kasan's jaw flapped for a moment and he seemed to look past me and up. What on EARTH was wrong with him?  
  
"Sh..Sh... Shiga? Dooon... doooon't move..." He stuttered and looked further above me.  
  
"Uh... what?"  
  
"Don't say a WORD!" He hissed, and his head kept looking up.  
  
"Kasan, what ARE you talking about?"  
  
"Shiga! Silence!" He wasn't even looking at me now, just further up and up like he was following an airplane in the sky.  
  
"You're freakin' me out, man cut it---"  
  
"For the LOVE OF DAD SHIGA, SHUT UP!!" He said loudly and very soon afterward his eyes grew a WHOLE lot bigger. Somehow I got the feeling I was being watched... or sumthin'.  
  
"OOooOOooh CRAP!!" Kasan yapped out and I looked up just in time to see the 'boulder''s long neck start leaning over with a roar down on me.  
  
"HOLY CR---" I started as the dragon's head came down on me.  
  
  
WOOSH!   
  
What the hay!??  
  
The Dragon ate dust and I was, uncomfortably, slung over Kasan's shoulder. And Kasan, possibly more uncomfortably, was running like no tomorrow. It all happened so fast I couldn't even begin to figure out how Kasan had grabbed me so quickly. I mean, last thing I knew I was Kentucky Fried Chicken to that Dragon.  
... Or maybe just a nice dinner salad. Yeah, I'd rather be a dinner salad, less fattening. However, being human was cool too.  
  
The humongoid Dragon pulled his head out of the dirt and shook it like a wet dog, looking over to Kasan and I. Otherwise known as: "LUNCH".  
  
"Kasan, keeeeep runnin'! PLEASE keep running!" I yelled at him. "Dragon on your tail-gate!"  
  
"Backseat drivers..." I heard him mutter.  
  
Funny how your funny bone hits you when a probably fire-breathing dragon of death is ripping through the forest chasing after you with a roar that could make you wet your pants. Although I'm sure Kasan probably wouldn't appreciate that right then, considering we were facing opposite ends.  
  
"Kasan he's GAINING!"  
  
"Think I don't know that!?" Kasan barked back as he mis-judged dodging a tree and smacked my head on it's trunk.  
  
"OW!"  
  
"Stop being a wimp!"  
  
"You could at least TRY to avoid the trees! Good grief, where'd you get your license young man!?"  
  
I abruptly felt Kasan jerk forward as he yelped and landed flat on his face.   
Bad position. VERY bad position.   
  
"I SO DO NOT WANT TO BE HERE RIGHT NOW!" I hollered at him as he got up to his feet.  
  
Kasan took on a more serious look. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." He said quietly.  
  
"Uh... YEAH, me too! I was HOPING TO LIVE TO HAVE CHILDREN OR SOMETHING!!"  
  
Kasan rolled up his long red sleeves. He was feeling primpy NOW!? What's next, is he gunna comb his hair!!???  
Kasan then raised one hand at the sky, palm up, and a light seemed to flash from it, like a beacon.  
  
"What the..." I muffled out, wondering what on earth he was doing.  
  
Then, a large bright light enveloped all of Kasan, and he brought his hand down towards his chest.  
"KUUUURRRAAA..... SAAAA.... YAH!" He bellowed and yanked his lighted hand forward, tumbling some sort of beam of light at the beast. The dragon halted to a very enthusiastic stop as the light hit him and it covered the entire beast's body.  
  
I sheilded my eyes and then felt the pressure of the wave as an aftershock of the raw power hit me. I flew backwards about ten feet and into yet another tree, which BOUNCED me right over the hill and tumbled all over the place, hand and legs flying everywhere.  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" I couldn't help but scream as my battered body smack right into a knee-high rock and I felt a sharp stab in my leg.  
  
I could practically see freakin' stars by now.  
  
My stumach was pressed up against the boulder and I grabbed it with my hands. At least THEY didn't seem to be broken or anything. I turned my head the other way to where I had original fallen from and noticed that the light Kasan had caused was dying down.  
  
A few moments later I heard Kasan's voice yelling my name in what couldn't be mistaken as anything BUT desperation. He was that worried for me? One of the only things that DID feel good right then.  
I tried hollering after him but instead I coughed up blood, all over the rock.  
I felt like DYING. So I merely moaned and rested my head on the bloody rock.  
  
About ten seconds later I felt Kasan's warm hand on my shoulder, shaking me just barely enough to make me notice it.  
  
"SHIGA! Are you okay!?"  
  
I moaned in response.  
  
"How do you feel!? I'm really sorry about that!!"  
  
"... Oooow."  
  
This was becoming a really long day.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
  
THERE! There it was! The energy was BACK again! And... wow, respectfully strong! And, better yet, I could TRACE it.   
I was off like a bullet. I'd finally pin-pointed the position. WHO EVER had been hiding their energy was now... mine.  
  
I couldn't help but grin as I headed straight for it.  
  
  
  
  
(Kasan)  
  
  
  
"... Oooow." Shiga moaned again.  
  
What had I done!? I hadn't meant to hurt HER in the process! But that stupid monster wouldn't relent... I had to do SOMETHING. And worse yet, I let everyone else know exactly where I was and that I actually had some power. The attack I'd used, Kurasayah, had put out too much energy, and I knew EXACTLY what that meant.  
  
They'd figure me out.  
  
"Curse it!" I hissed and turned over Shiga to see just how beat up she really was.  
  
Unfortunately, worse than I had thought.  
  
I looked down to discover a stick right there in her leg. Gotta say, that didn't look so good. Hey, I'm no doctor, but I'm not STUPID.  
"Oh Shiga... I'm so sorry..."  
How could I? Shiga, of all people? There was no telling if her leg would ever work as well as it used to! That is, if I could even get the stick out.  
  
"My leg reaaally hurts..." She mumbled and closed her eyes, torn and bruised all over. If only I'd been more careful...  
  
  
"WHO'RE YOU!?" I whipped my head around to hear the familiar voice.  
  
Oh crap.  
It was him. My... .. it was Piccolo. Really not good right now. I was hoping to avoid even seeing him, it was bad enough that I'd already interferred with Shiga's life! Not to mention manage to get a stick shoved in her right leg.   
  
"I asked you a question, boy!" He barked at me from up on the hill. I silently wondered why he didn't have his cape or turban with him.  
  
"I'm... I'm... Ri... I'm Kasan." I stuttered, not taking my eyes off of the Namek. He was so... DIFFERENT looking from the Piccolo I knew. SO different. I always wondered what he'd looked like before my time.  
  
"Good, now, mind telling me what you did to Shiga?" Piccolo glared at me like old ladies would if I kicked puppies.  
  
"I... I... she uh... she fell."  
  
"Piccolo......?" Shiga weakly looked up at him, creeking her eyelids open, then quickly shut them again and rested her head against my arm.  
  
"I can uh... explain." I fumbled with the words. He was such a spectacle to see.  
  
"Then DO IT!" He leaped down the rest of the hill with cat-like grace and walked over to Shiga and I.  
"First of all, how did this happen? I ASSUME that you 'caused that energy signal, seeing that Shiga clearly couldn't have done it."   
  
I paled but nodded at him. There was no use hiding my power anymore. But... at least I could conceal my true identity. I didn't have to tell him that.  
"Well... see, I was following directions I got from... a friend with Shiga so we could---"  
  
"Hurry up and explain, would you?!"  
  
"RIGHT! Sir, yessir!" What was this, Military School? "A dragon attacked us and I was forced to use an energy wave, sir."  
  
Piccolo ignored me for the time-being, getting the information he needed. He ran his fingers accross the wound as gently as possible and Shiga let out another pitiful whimper. I looked down at Shiga to notice that... oh, sweet mercy, Shiga was crying.  
I'd NEVER seen or heard of Shiga crying. Though I've never seen a stick shoved through her leg, either.  
  
"Get it out..." She whimpered in a voice so quiet only someone with sensative hearing could possible understand it.  
  
Piccolo bent down further to inspect her leg, holding it carefully. "This can be repaired... where does it hurt, Shiga?"  
  
Shiga's eyes flew open, "Where do you think!? IN MY LEG, GENIUS!" She sure did come-to quick.  
If Shiga wasn't so distracted by the blinding pain, she probably would have noticed how nice Piccolo was actually being to her, or caring to ask at all.  
  
"Okay, fine fine, I understand... just hold still." Piccolo grimaced. "It won't take that long."  
  
"WHAT? What're you gunna --"  
  
- YANK -   
  
Soon followed a very very long, very very LOUD, and very very agonizing sounding scream. And that scream lasted for quite some time.  
  
Piccolo had um... just pulled a limb from her limb. Very quickly, and almost in a professional manner, but it didn't exactly feel nice to Shiga, evidently.  
  
I don't think it would be proper for me to repeat the words that followed. She didn't curse, but she may as well have.  
  
"I guess that kinna... hurt." Is all that Piccolo said, sweat dripping off of his forehead in nervous energy.  
  
"DID YOU THINK THAT IT WOULD FEEL GOOOD!??" Shiga bent over and clutched the newly-found hole in her leg, trying with all her might not to touch the actual wound.  
Next Piccolo tore off a patch of his dark gi from his leg and bent over her wound.  
  
"What are you doing?" Shiga asked him with distrusting eyes, still clutching her leg protectively.  
  
"I'm going to give that seeping gush of a leg a bandage..." He muttered back. "Hold still, please."  
  
'Please'? Since when did he say 'please'?  
  
Shiga merely squinted as Piccolo wrapped the "bandage" around her leg in an amazingly careful manner.  
  
"... That should help. It will hold for a while, anyway. Until we get some senzu beans at least."  
  
Shiga nodded in return, keeping her eyes slammed shut.  
  
  
"It's been a REALLY long day..." She muttered.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
  
Other A/N: WHEW!!! I just felt... INSPIRED for this one! Strange. Anywho, whatcha think? Kawaii? Not so kawaii? Or did is STINK!? I've been writing since 8:30PM, and it's almost 1:00 AM now. I made three fourths of this story in the last few hours. Though I've been writing other stuff too... and workin' on me website. I have picture of me on website now. ^-^ NOT that I'm proud of that or anything. I LOVE HTML!!!! :D REVIEW ME!!!   
  
"Inside and outside: blue his house with the blue little window and a blue corvette and everything is blue for him, and his self, and everybody around 'cause he ain't got, nobody, to listen!" ~Moonwalks to her drawing and notebook covered bed proceeding to pass-out~ 


	10. Back to the Drawing Board

(A/N: Hi again! Welcome to the 10th Anniversary special. ~_^ It's just another chapter, but I'll try extra hard to make it worth reading!! Oh, and as a note to Jesscheaux: Yes, I received your email, and I enjoyed reading it. ^_^ However, I'm not allowed to email back for pleasure – just newsletters and the occasional forward, which also means that I can't use MSN Messenger anymore. ~Sob~ I'll get onto reading more of the TSR series soon, though, sorry I'm slacking off!)  
  
  
  
"Dream Maker"  
Chapter 10: Back to the Drawing Board  
  
Finish Date: April 24th, 2002  
Made By: Kittioto  
  
  
  
  
(Kasan)  
  
  
  
  
There he crouched, as intimidating as ever. It didn't matter that he wasn't standing up. It didn't matter that he wasn't scowling yet. All he had to do, was be there. He wasn't even looking at me, but I could FEEL the weight of his stare.  
  
He was fantastic.  
  
  
Fabulous, amazing, outstanding, you name it! All my life, I'd wanted to see him like this. Not just from the picture I had of him with my mother.   
I wanted to SEE him.  
  
And there he was! Crouching there right across from me, next to Shiga. Despite that I'd tried everything in my power not to see him, it was both a horrible, and at the same time, wonderful, moment. Because there he was. In the flesh. THERE.  
  
It made me feel safe.  
  
  
"She needs to be taken somewhere safe… you, 'Kasan' – take her to Capsule Corporation. I'll get some senzu beans. Maybe then we can settle this stupid course of events…" He grumbled at me but in a firm commanding tone, not bothering to look in my direction, and stood up.  
Amazing indeed.  
  
I nodded in response to him, letting him know that I'd heard, and scooped up Shiga in my arms like a new-born. She moaned quietly, continuing to keep her eyes closed, but still clutched onto her wound.  
  
"And Kasan…" I looked back up to find that Piccolo was staring right at me. Burning a hole through me with his cold, charcoal black eyes.  
"I know you're lying about something, and I know you've been hiding your energy. I may not know why quite yet, but slip up again… and you can have certain confidence that I WILL kill you."  
  
I stared back at him, with no expression on my face. Despite this and his obvious threat, I grinned inwardly. Intimidating, yes, but the irony of it all was as sweet as honey. If he'd known who I was, he would probably be protecting me – not looking for a choke-hold.  
  
With one last glare of death, he turned his back to me and Shiga, lifting off to the skies, where I assumed Korin's Tower was. I'd heard of the platform in the sky, but never actually been there.  
Shiga rested her head against my chest as a support, breathing a bit heavily.  
"How're we gunna get back, Kasan…?"  
  
I smiled down at her. She still didn't know how strong I really was.  
  
"We fly."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
  
  
I GLARED down at the over-grown house cat. "What do you MEAN you 'don't have any senzu beans'!?"  
  
"I mean what I said! We don't have any yet, sorry chum, but they're just not in season!"  
  
If that cat ever called me 'chum' again… oh, I swear…  
  
"IN SEASON!? I need those senzu beans!"  
  
"Hey, what's the emergency? I mean, you're just going to use them for training, big deal!" Short fat white cat known as 'Korin' put his hands… er, PAWS on his hips. Trying to look tough, was he? The stupid cat didn't know what tough was.  
  
"Alright, alright, fine then…" I growled deep in my throat and tried to muster up some patience. "When WILL they be 'in season'?"  
  
Korin paused, seeming to be thinking about it or calculating something. "Um… probably about four weeks."  
  
"YOU CALL THAT A SEASON!!?"  
  
"Hey, I didn't create the beans, I just grow 'em!!"   
Oh, for the love a… four weeks? Four WEEKS? Four weeks of torture. My guess was that Kasan would be looking after Shiga, and if I wanted to get some answers out of him, I'd have to face a wounded pest. Great. Just great.  
  
"FINE! I'll be back in four weeks, but they better be here by then, or you can kiss your sorry tail goodbye!" I scowled at the cat, annoyed by his presence, and dropped off of his tower. Capsule Corporation wasn't that far. Another mere guess, was that Kasan had been spending a great deal of time with Shiga over the past week or two.  
Why else would they be wandering through the forest like a pack of hungry wolves?  
It only made sense.   
  
And Shiga had been staying at CC lately… which probably meant that Kasan was as well. That's why I'd entrusted him to take her back. After all, I surely didn't want to deal with carrying her.  
  
Hopefully, the mystery of this 'Kasan' person would be solved soon. It better be, anyway. Oh yes, it better.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(Shiga)  
  
  
  
  
The most recent thing Kasan had told me was "We fly."… Right then, I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Soon afterward it was revealed to me that not only tall green men were capable of soaring through the air like a pigeon on steroids.   
This would be the second time my random injuries forced me to be carried through the wind by handsome tall men from who knows where.  
  
Kasan didn't say a thing as we soared through the air, just looked ahead of him, where he was going. The fact that he could fly with ease without wings was far beyond me. How could he really be human, anyway? With him able to fly and all. The ears and strangely large eyes didn't really help the concept, either.  
  
"Kasan…" I cleared my throat and looked up at him, basically only getting a clear shot of his chin. It hurt enough to be breathing, and more to talk, but there wasn't really anything else I could do.  
"Kasan, are you… are you really human?"  
  
I felt a shiver roll through him at the question, and he kept his gaze fixed ahead of him.  
"… No, Shiga. I'm not human." I noticed as he bit his lip distastefully. Evidently the question had bothered him.  
  
"Than… what are you, exactly?"   
  
Kasan closed his eyes for just a moment, and then resumed his stare ahead.  
"I'm not anything in particular. It's… complicated."  
  
I nodded weakly in understanding. When I'd first met him, he'd told me that he couldn't tell me his real name. That it was actually VITAL that I didn't know. I assumed that his origin was that way, as well.  
And the fact that he wasn't human hardly bothered me. After all, I was quite used to different beings by now. Goku and Gohan were Saiyans… as well as that jerk Vegeta. Or at least that's what I'd been told. And of course Piccolo was green, which sort of gave that away. I think ChiChi called him a… a… Namek? Sounds right.  
  
Sometimes I wondered if I was even human, considering all the mixed breeds around here. But being thrashed about by a blinding light and enduring a stick going in and out of my leg also helped me realize just how mortal I really was. And how weak I was compared to the warriors surrounding me.  
To be completely honest, I was tired of being weak. If things continued this way… who knows what may happen? Seems I'm more than just prone to injuries. They FLOCK to me!  
  
I was tired of being weak, I was tired of having serious injuries, and I was tired of becoming helpless because of it!! I hated the idea of having to be protected. First Piccolo had saved me… and I have amnesia. Now not only does Kasan have to treat me like a small child, but Piccolo steps in once more to help me out.  
I didn't want to have to owe Piccolo anything. And now what? Now I had to owe Kasan, too? The Sons, for looking after me? The Briefs for now giving me a place to live, regardless that I haven't done anything for them? AND the food?  
I was TIRED of it!!  
  
Yes yes, of course I appreciated their kindness… no duh. Where would I be without it? Probably dead. Or waiting to become. But now I was in debt, in a sense. Piccolo had saved my life… and Kasan helped me out. Though, it was Kasan's fault in the first place that I'd gotten hurt, but that was beside the point.  
  
"Kasan." I struggled to talk again, and cleared my mucus and blood-clogged throat from my hard encounter with the rock.  
Kasan looked back at me for a moment to let me know he was listening.  
  
"Kasan… will you train me?"  
  
He blinked about five times rapidly and looked back down at me, then in front of him… then back down on me again.  
  
"Uh… train?"  
  
I nodded slightly. "Yeah. You… you, Piccolo, Vegeta, Goku; all of them, are powerful… I'm weak. I'm helpless, Kasan, and I'm a burden."  
  
"You're not a 'burden'…" Kasan mumbled quietly.  
  
"Yes I am!" I coughed a bit from raising my voice and looked back up at him. "Don't deny it, I am. I'm weak, slow, and generally an annoyance. I'm not an idiot though, Kasan. I know I'm holding everything back."  
  
Kasan didn't say anything for a little bit, then spoke up again. "You're injured. I… I can't train you if you're injured."  
  
"Well, then you can when I get better!!" I tried, adding some enthusiasm.  
  
"Um… well uh… uh…" Kasan just kind of stuttered a bit, every once in a while glancing down at me.  
"I… I can't train you, Shiga. I… I've never taught anyone before. I wouldn't make a good teacher."  
  
I sighed very softly to avoid hurting my throat, but accepted it. OBVIOUSLY I was a burden in this sense, as well. Too much so even to teach.  
  
"Well… I guess I'll just ask someone else to teach me." I whispered in remorse.   
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"Yeah… I guess I can ask Goku. Gohan I know wouldn't have any time to help me out, he's always studying…" I trailed off a bit, hardly noticing Kasan's stare.  
  
"Well, well… what about the flower!?" A hint of panic coloring his voice.  
  
"We can look for the flower afterwards! After all, how can I ever help you if I keep getting hurt? I need to get stronger!" I smirked and looked ahead at where we were going. My smirk soon vanished as I noticed Kasan wasn't looking where he was headed.  
  
"You can't TRAIN, we have to look for that flower! It's my sister's LIFE, Shiga, we have to ---"  
  
"WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE YOU MORON!"  
  
Kasan looked ahead of him just in time to barely avoid slamming both of us into a huge Oak.  
  
"GHALL, Kasan, look where you're going!!"  
  
The teen said nothing and just put on his serious face – this time looking AHEAD of him.  
  
For some reason, I got this strange feeling of recognition. That stone cold glance that hides embarrassment or frustration. Probably from Vegeta, heh. From the short (HEE – "short": get it!!??? … Wow, that was lame) times I'd seen or heard him from the intermissions of between meals and the gravity chamber, I really, REALLY didn't like the guy. "Mighty Prince" – Yeah, sure. Whatever. Get off your high-horse! That kind of stuff just bugged me.  
  
However, for the time-being, Kasan was being quiet and let the training conversation slip. Maybe it was his silent way of agreeing with me… or maybe he didn't agree. Not that it would matter in the long run, because he certainly wouldn't stop me from my goal. After all, he needed my COOPERATION. Not resistance.   
  
  
So that was that. As soon as I got healed enough, I'd ask Goku to train me.  
  
I yawned quietly and rested my head on Kasan's shoulder, already having my arms wrapped around his neck. Today was hard… it was rough. My leg was bleeding like a stuck pig, even though Piccolo had wrapped some of his outfit around the wound. No longer was the cloth purple… now it was stained a deep red.  
I hoped Piccolo wouldn't be too mad… how would he really get any clothes way out there in the forest, anyway? Piccolo: The green man of mystery.  
  
With one last glance at Kasan, I shut my eyes and let him do the flying. Hopefully he'd look where he was going this time.  
  
  
  
  
(Piccolo)  
  
  
  
  
And so I began my journey to Capsule Corp, headed for certain doom. I took my time. I did not want to face Shiga.  
I did not want to face Vegeta.  
And I SINCERELY did not want to face that maniac BULMA, or her high-voiced mother. Their voices were like whistles ringing through my ears – enough to make me want to rip them off. But I had no choice if I was going to get any answers from this "Kasan".  
  
I didn't like the looks of Kasan. He looked… suspicious. Leery. Uncomfortable. Generally distant.   
  
And powerful.  
  
*Great… all we need is another powerful brat.* I thought sarcastically to myself and sneered.  
And I HATED being lied to. The boy couldn't hide from me forever – I would figure the brat out. OBVIOUSLY he was hiding from me. The expression on his face when I showed up confirmed that. The kid was scared half to death of my presence… now I only had to find out why.  
  
Another thing, is that he'd just popped up out of nowhere. This was the most suspicious thing about him. Large power levels don't simply APPEAR. They grow slowly… not randomly happen to become larger than average. It simply didn't happen. It was a puzzle… that's what it was. And it was only a matter of time before I completed it. And, unlike Goku, I happen to be fairly good at puzzles.  
  
I growled at myself for being careless.  
  
Yes, I'd been careless. How had I not noticed this punk from day one? I should have. I was a guardian, a care-taker. I watched, I observed. The way Kasan had simply appeared proved that I wasn't fulfilling my personal vows very well.  
  
I'd SWORN that I'd take care of Gohan. Sworn. And… I haven't failed yet. I'd make sure I never would.  
So if this Kasan… turned out to be more than what he appeared… I would take all necessary actions. And responsibility. Nothing could stop me from my goals, once I consider the situation serious. Failing Gohan, in ANY way, was something I wouldn't be able to live with. It almost bothered me, how I'd become so attached to the boy.   
At the same time, it gave me a sense of security… which I found strangely… comforting.  
  
Long ago I'd become aware of the feeling, though I never could really get used to it. Something foreign to me, to my thoughts, had abruptly entered my life when I sacrificed myself for the boy. That's something that doesn't simply click into place.  
  
While thinking of my responsibilities, I suddenly became aware that Capsule Corporation was only another thirty seconds away, so I powered down slightly to land, almost passing up the looming building. Pff… Humans, always trying to glorify themselves with large possessions. How foolish.   
I shook my head, and knocked on the door. It was locked, and I figured I'd get a loud thrashing of insults if I broke it down. I wasn't all that anxious to go in, anyway.  
  
A few moments passed, when finally Bulma opened the door, and gave me one of those annoying "What are you doing here?" looks.  
  
"What are you doing here, Piccolo?" She asked, mirroring her face in words.  
  
I scowled back and said nothing, looking over her head, and just invited myself in.  
  
"Piccolo! What manners, sheesh!"   
I heard a click behind me, a siren that Bulma had closed the door.  
  
"Where's Shiga?" I asked gruffly, having no patience for the woman. It didn't concern her, anyway.  
  
"Up-stairs, Mr. Charming."  
  
I ignored her remark of my social attitude, and headed up the stairs. Stairs… useless as well. If Humans weren't so lazy and weak, they could just jump up different floors if they still felt the need to glorify themselves with looming buildings.   
  
I peeked into a couple rooms, and finally found the one I was looking for. The one with Shiga in it, and Kasan as well.  
I must have made a lot of noise when I entered, because Kasan jumped like the hounds of HFIL were after him.  
  
"Oh… heheh… hiya Piccolo!" I returned his courtesy with a scowl, and shifted my gaze over to Shiga. It wasn't surprising that her eyes were closed… must have fallen asleep or passed out on the way over there.   
"When did she fall asleep?"   
Kasan hadn't taken his eyes off of me yet.  
  
"About 10 minutes ago… pretty wiped out I guess."  
  
I nodded mutely and shifted my eyes to Kasan, not moving my head from it's previous position, and crossed my arms. "I wasn't able to get any senzu, beans, so you'll be stuck with her for a while. Korin said they weren't in season, but they should be in four weeks… then I'll return, and you can get on with whatever you were doing with Shiga before this happened, IF I don't kill you first."  
I added emphasis on the "IF". I still didn't like the looks of him.  
  
Kasan simply nodded curtly, like he'd expected it all, and finally broke his gaze from me, down to Shiga.  
"… I… suppose you'll want to know what I was doing with Shiga alone in a forest. It does seem… pretty odd."  
  
I said nothing, but he was right. I knew Humans weren't the most… modest… creatures around. Especially when alone with the opposite gender. Personally, I wouldn't know all that much as to what compels them to do such things, being able to reproduce without anything else's presence. Who'd want a small version of themselves around, anyway?  
  
"Well…" Kasan continued, sounding nervous as he did so. "I'm… not from around here, you see. Not really. And my sister, um… not from around here either, is very ill."  
  
I raised an eye-ridge in mild interest. Could this being actually be NOBLE? Not likely.  
  
"Well… the only cure that's known to help her, is located somewhere near that forest, as far as I know. Actually, it's a flower… orange and red center, midnight blue petals, and a red stem… Shiga… is the only one who can help me find it. It's complicated… and it sounds stupid, I know, but you've gotta trust me, sir."  
  
Trust? Heh, I didn't trust him. But who was I to get in the way? If he tried anything, I'd simply kill him. It wasn't a new concept. No problem.  
  
A moment of silence passed, and Kasan seemed to grow more and more nervous before I spoke up.  
  
"Who are you really?" I looked ahead of me and at the wall. He'd probably lie to me again, but it was worth a shot.  
  
Kasan took a step forward in the large, plain looking room, and put his hands in his pockets, his eyes guided towards the floor.  
"Someone that doesn't belong here, sir. I can't say my real name, I'm sorry. It's… something I can't do."  
  
"Why not?" I shot back at him, yanking my head in his direction. The boy looked fearful for a moment, then his eyes glazed back to the ground.  
  
"I can't tell you that, either…"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(A/N: Hehehehehh… I don't want to spoil anything about this story, but I feel like saying that the ending of this story probably isn't what you'd expect. ~Grins~ But, alas: the ending isn't really that close! This is a mile-long story of DOOM, and it shall not end yet!! Well, what do you expect? This story is my baby! My love! ~_^ So don't forget to review… heheh! Love ya'll, and thanks for reading! Oh yes, and forever sorry if this was too short… I'm a bit slow on my wording, I like to be precise. I guess it doesn't help too much that I look over the chapter five million times looking for errors, either, eh? ^_^)  
  
()):^,  
  
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